‘Trap’ and the Shyamalan Way: Goofy but effective filmmaking

At the risk of losing all my cinephile credibility, I need to say what’s in my heart: I’m a fan of M. Night Shyamalan.

I like most of his movies! I even like “Trap,” his latest thriller about a serial killer evading police at a pop music concert.

While I can’t defend all of Shyamalan’s output (sorry, “The Happening,” “The Last Airbender” and “After Earth”), I can support the filmmaker through his latest stretch of modestly budgeted, high concept thrillers. Yes, that includes “Old,” about a beach that makes people age rapidly, and “Trap,” an equally preposterous movie where Josh Hartnett simultaneously plays a cunning murderer AND a super supportive girl-dad.

At this point, a typical Shyamalan script contains a multitude of logic-defying narrative twists, though “Trap” reveals its wildest curveball in the opening minutes (and the film’s marketing): Hartnett plays Cooper, seemingly mild-mannered dad who takes his teenage daughter (Ariel Donoghue) to a concert staged by Lady Raven, with Shyamalan’s real-life daughter, Saleka Night Shyamalan, portraying the Taylor Swift-like musician. Between songs, Cooper opens his phone to check on the poor soul he has trapped in his murder basement.

After noticing a heavy police presence at the concert, Cooper gets the lowdown from a friendly arena worker: The FBI knows that infamous serial killer The Butcher is in attendance, and profiler Dr. Grant (Hayley Mills, yes, THAT Hayley Mills from “The Parent Trap”) plans to stop anyone at the event who fits the profile (i.e. mild-mannered, middle-aged white dudes).

Another typical Shyamalan element is present in “Trap” as well: Strangely stilted-but-often-humorous dialogue. More than ever, this weird language feels intentional in “Trap,” and the movie builds entertaining momentum with Hartnett’s skillful recitation of the verbal nonsense.

The first half of the movie is a taut cross between concert film and cat-and-mouse thriller (most like Brian DePalma’s underrated “Snake Eyes,” set at a boxing match). The FBI and police are depicted as absolute buffoons, and the second half of the film finds even crazier ways for law enforcement to NOT catch Cooper. It’s Hartnett’s performance that makes all the absurdity work. He’s so good at switching gears between goofball dad and criminal mastermind that you almost want him to escape so he can torture that dude in the murder basement.

Through all this, Shyamalan flexes his creative prowess in the director’s chair. Say what you will about his writing, but Shyamalan is a skillful filmmaker; sharp compositions and concise editing propel “Trap” throughout even the most insane twists.

Look, I get it. Some audiences will hyperfocus on the logic of “Trap” and claim that it’s a terrible film, as bad as “Old,” “Knock at the Cabin,” “Glass” and his other (secretly) good films in recent years. If nothing else, Shyamalan takes risks, and he makes good-looking, unpredictable movies while the big studios spend $200 million to park their stars in front of a green screen for the latest sequel. His movies are fun, so long as you don’t think too hard about them.

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Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.

    This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Josh Hartnett in a scene from "Trap."