Last February, M. Night Shyamalan released “Knock at the Cabin,” it was met with mixed reviews. Shyamalan doesn’t really get great reviews anymore, at least he hasn’t gotten ultra positive ink since his ‘Sixth Sense’ and ‘Unbreakable’ days of yore.
However, he does still have a fair amount of fans of his work. Hell, even the grouchy folks over at Cahiers du Cinéma love him — they raved about his last few, especially “Split,” “Old,” “Glass” and “The Visit.”
The latest Shyamalan is called “Trap” and is set in and around a concert, the singer is played by his daughter, Saleka Shyamalan. A trailer has just been released for the film, which is set to hit theaters on August 9. The Hitchcock inspirations are again very much present here.
Described as a “thriller,” “Trap” stars Josh Harnett as a dad taking his teenage daughter to a pop concert. Leaving his seat for the bathroom, Hartnett’s character notices a heavy police presence around the venue and finds out that the concert is a sting operation to catch a serial killer on the loose and intel suggests that he might be at the concert. PLOT TWIST, it turns out, Hartnett is the killer.
Given that this is Shyamalan, there’s possibly a twist ending. What could it be? The daughter is the killer? He’s not the actual guy police are looking for?
I should also note that Sayombhu Mukdeeprom is the DP on this film. It’s an out of nowhere choice, and I’m loving it. This automatically has me more interested in “Trap”. Mukdeeprom is best known for his work with Apichatpong Weerasethakul (“Syndromes and A Century,” “Memoria,” and “Uncle Boonmee”), and he also shot Luca Guadagnino’s “Call Me By Your Name,” “Suspiria,” and “Challengers.”
I’m still waiting for Shyamalan to top “The Sixth Sense” and “Unbreakable,” both released, respectively, in 1999 and 2000. Shyamalan’s had many ups and downs since then, constantly challenging himself, and his audience, but it seems as though Newsweek’s 2004 proclamation that he’s the “The Next Spielberg” feels rather far-fetched today.
Then again, it’s not like he hasn’t made any good films since then. “The Village” and “Signs” were somewhat noteworthy and then he had a slight comeback the last decade with the low-budgeted “The Visit” and “Split.” I also found 2021’s “Old,” a ludicrous film, to be curiously entertaining.