What critics are saying about M Night Shyamalan's 'preposterous' Trap

Trap marks M Night Shyamalan's return to the big screen, and much like the director's filmography the movie has largely divided critics.

Starring Josh Hartnett as Cooper, the film follows him and his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) as they attend a concert of her favourite artist Lady Raven (Shyamalan's daughter Saleka). What Cooper soon learns is that the whole thing is a ruse to capture a serial killer known as The Butcher, the thing is he is The Butcher and so he is determined to find a way out.

Read more: M Night Shyamalan movies ranked worst to best according to fans

With the film out a week earlier in the US than it is in the UK, reviews have started to appear and it's looking like The Sixth Sense filmmaker's new movie has not convinced everyone. While some describe it as "fiendishly clever" others argue that it is "contrived" — perhaps this should be unsurprising given how often Shyamalan's work is debated.

The Hollywood Reporter's Lovia Gyarkye argues that Trap is more of a concert movie for his daughter that is "wrapped in a middling thriller kept afloat by a compelling performance from Josh Hartnett".

"The first half of Trap betrays the director’s greater interest. Shyamalan’s daughter Saleka wrote, produced and recorded an entire album for the film, which adds a haunting layer to composer Herdis Stefansdottir’s score," the critic wrote.

Reflecting on the film's plot, Gyarkye added: "With so many different threads, Trap struggles to maintain its momentum. The repetitive nature of Cooper’s chase blunts the stakes and a side quest with Lady Raven ends up not feeling as significant as it should. By the end of the second act and well into the third, Trap, although stylishly directed, can’t help but lose some of its edge."

The Wrap's William Bibbiani is the critic who describes the movie as "a fiendishly clever thriller", praising how Trap "eschews conventional thriller revelations in favour of unexpected character decisions" and features a "wicked, funny, and almost sympathetic" performance from Hartnett.

Bibbiani added: "Trap doesn’t have the depth of Shyamalan’s most important films or the theatricality of his most memorably weird experiments. But it’s one of his best thrillers.

"A tightly wound, devilishly fun, mean little film that dares us to consider the serial killer genre from new angles. Just like Hartnett’s despicable villain, it’s easy to get caught up in Shyamalan’s sticky and suspenseful web."

Deadline's Pete Hammond was less sympathetic, saying that Shyamalan's "bsession with out-twisting himself" often goes wrong and the same is true of Trap because he "writes himself into a corner from which there is no escape".

Hammond went on: "On the plus side, Hartnett is all-in on making us believe he could successfully navigate two completely different lives and personas, this is a showcase for the dependable actor, just as Split was for James McAvoy."

Calling the movie "preposterous", Entertainment Weekly's Jordan Hoffman was divided by the movie, writing: "Trap does not have the punch-to-the-gut weirdness found in Shyamalan's two most recent outings, Old and Knock at the Cabin. I'd place it more alongside the enjoyable The Visit or Split, and, indeed, there are some story commonalities with both.

"It is, however, masterfully shot, with great use of wide angles, cropped frames, and a sense of foreboding inside and around the concert venue."

Variety's Owen Gleiberman argued that the film is "one trap door of contrivance after another" that makes Brian De Palma's "loopiest flights of fancy look real", adding: "As the contrivances of Trap balloon into something almost grotesque in its borderline absurdity, the movie raises the question: How invested can we be in a high-concept serial killer whose emotions are no more believable than his escapes?"

Trap will be released in UK cinemas on Friday, 9 August.