M. Night Shyamalan recently revealed that his upcoming supernatural romance film, Remain, has tested higher than any movie in his career. This is an impressive feat, considering the crowd-pleasers that Shyamalan has made over the last three decades. Unfortunately, Remain is still a few months away from release. The good news, on the other hand, is that Shyamalan’s most recent movie appears to be seeing a spike in streaming viewership. Shyamalan seems to be having fun again in the last decade, pushing his typically ambitious ideas to the limit in movies such as Old and Split. His most recent movie, the one that’s now among the most-watched titles on Netflix, unleashed not just one of Shyamalan’s trademark climactic twists, but an entire third act that nobody saw coming.
We’re talking, of course, about Trap. Starring Josh Hartnett as a serial killer who discovers that the concert he’s attending with his daughter is an elaborate ruse to corner him, the movie unfolds like a combination of a Hitman video game and Home Alone. The protagonist uses every trick in the book to evade capture, while also pretending to play a regular dad to his excited teenage daughter. Many read it as a metaphor for the disconnect that Shyamalan himself feels about making unhinged genre films while also parenting three daughters. One of Shyamalan’s children, incidentally, plays a key role in Trap.
Shyamalan Is At His Best When He’s Not Trying to Please Everyone
Saleka Night Shyamalan, who is also a singer and musician, plays the pop star whose concert is used to lure the serial killer into the cops’ hands. She composed original music that plays throughout the film, and in many ways, becomes the film’s lead in the third act. Released in 2024, Trap marked Shyamalan’s first movie with Warner Bros. after a long stint at Universal. It grossed nearly $85 million worldwide against a reported budget of $30 million. The movie received mixed reviews and is currently sitting at a 56% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The site’s consensus reads, “An arch thriller given some grounding by Josh Hartnett’s committed performance, Shyamalan’s Trap will ensnare those who appreciate its tongue-in-cheek style while the rest will be eager to wriggle out from it.”
Trap is streaming now on Netflix. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
- Release Date
-
August 2, 2024
- Runtime
-
105 minutes
- Producers
-
Marc Bienstock

















:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/Oliver-Tree-Victor-WAO-061726-30b07b6eae534f91b4dc84bd44086fd0.jpg)
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/Craig-Melvin-Peanut-Butter-061726-7f16bc2150264932a168c9ae0c7fa051.jpg)





You must be logged in to post a comment Login