TRAP (2024) Is A Mess - A Review

It's a difficult case to make that M. Night Shyamalan's Trap - with a budget of $35 million - could be produced on such lazy foundations. At this point in his career, it genuinely does feel like the writer/director has stopped taking notes or redrafting his screenplays at all, once his evidently self-assured ideas have been printed.

There are so many fundamental improvements that could have been made during the pre-production stage, whether it's more closely aligning the structure and beats of the story arcs with their associated themes, or placing more emphasis on the protagonist’s thought process when tackling key escalations in conflict so their solution doesn't always feel so effortless. Significant reworking of the script would have at least allowed Trap to begin production from a point of competence, but obviously would have stripped the film of all charm and ironic entertainment value.

Given Shyamalan's propensity for bizarre characterisation and convoluted justification of plot-holes, I couldn't possibly write off every fundamental issue with the script as examples of legitimate satire, but the film is hilarious and worth a watch for anyone that enjoys this kind of thing.


3/10.