Trap (2024) is an American compelling psychological thriller film penned, directed, and also the producer by M. Night Shyamalan. The movie includes main actors like Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Night Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Alison Pill. Focusing on the protagonist Cooper Adams, who is a firefighter in Philadelphia, the story is set on a concert where a girl, Riley, a teenager, accompany her father to watch Lady Raven. The movie tells the story of a common father-daughter outing that immediately becomes more complicated when Cooper, who is the ‘Butcher’, a known serial killer on the loose tries to out run the police who plan to arrest him when they attend a concert. Cooper must do everything to cover any attempts that are made to make the noose tighter around him by using his brains and mind whenever the night is through, and all this while portraying to be caring father.
Is Trap (2024) a True Story?
Although, Trap is a work of fiction, it has been partly drawn from a true life story. M. Night Shyamalan says the movie was based on an actual event called “Operation Flagship” of the 80s where the police used a sbuper bowl like event for a grand prize giveaway which was a trap to catch criminals. The moment the criminals reached there they were apprehended. Shyamalan developed this idea of a ‘trap’, and after moving the characters and their predator from the Rosamund neighbourhood, he got a better context for the beast of a man – a concert.
When asked about it in an interview, Shyamalan said that though a backdrop of real events was used, the primary focus was inspired by his interest in killers and a need to try something new in the sphere of shoot ‘em ups psychological thriller. He also stressed the teamwork with his daughter, Saleka, who is not only a performer of the movie, but also contributing the music as well. This kind of father-daughter relationship also helped to create more estrangement and mystery to the movie, or in other words, Trap is, in addition to a film about horror and mystery, a picture of the ambiguous nature of family relations.
Trap (2024) Story
Cooper Adams is a man going through daily life as any typical male—working as a firefighter and being a single father to Riley. Later, to celebrate her positive performance in her academic work, Cooper takes Riley to watch her most favored singer, Lady Raven. One night when both decide to bond with her father, she gets scared during the night and it was just a nightmare.
In reality, the fans of the bands may not even be fully aware of it, but there is vast police presence around. They are always eager to arrest a notorious complicated criminal, ‘’ The Butcher’’, who has been in operation in the city for several years. The Butcher is himself a very notorious man, more specifically, he is famous for his very cold blooded and professional killings and the police have finally trace him to this very concert.
During the concert Cooper starts to feel uncomfortable and feels that there are too many police around watching them. He attempts not to freak out for Riley’s sake but the tension could be cut with a butter knife. The audience is still unaware of the threat that is among them and pleasures watching a show put up by Lady Raven.
It is a twist of fate that the movie goes to the climax only to find that Cooper Adams is in real sense, The Butcher. He has been suffering from two personalities of which the outside world does not get to see his sinister side. Cooper is guilty conscience person and till the time he is not caught he continues to play his game of lies and in his mind the police are closing in on him.
It becomes a terrible night for Cooper as the police chase after him in the concert. Not able to cope with the situation and to protect his daughter, Cooper disguises himself and attempts to go out unnoticed. However, the confusion resulting from the conduct of the police operation and the crowded hall where the emergency evacuation was supposed to have taken place makes it almost the impossible feat.
Lady Raven, the pop star featured in the series becomes involved in the whole drama as Cooper tricks his way to freedom and puts her life in danger. After that, the concert becomes the dangerous chase with the police following every step of Cooper.
As the night progresses Cooper’s performance that he had so steadfastly maintained up to now starts to disintegrate. It has [the protagonist] face a monster that resides in him while at the same time protect Riley, the human character. Tagging along the police who are adamant at arresting The Butcher alive, they surround him.
Cooper confronts himself in the last act in a very disastrous manner in a manner that defines the two characters. The reality about him and what he did in his activities is revealed and there is always havoc left behind. With the police igniting gunfire, Cooper reaches a moral dilemma of the choice – to stay and guard his dear daughter or to flee having no guarantee for their survival.
Finally, Cooper gets himself and is arrested by the police although he had intended to escape the law until the bitter end. Riley is the most heartbroken after knowing the truth about who her father is and the city rejoices after The Butcher is captured. Apparently, Lady Raven becomes a woman who is terrified by what is happening to her next and using the following song, she pays tribute to the victims of The Butcher and turns the concert into the mournful service. At the end of the film the audience gets to see a show that reminds us that everyone has their own demons regardless of how normal their life may seem.
Trap (2024) is not directly based on a true story, but it was inspired by real events. The director M. Night Shyamalan revealed that the idea of the movie was partly based on a real-life event that involved police officers from the 1980s, who lured criminals into attending what they believed was the Super Bowl event to capture them.
Speaking of the shooting process, Shyamalan mentioned that his initial intent was to make a concert-based thriller combined with the environment of a psychopath killer. Does however anybody else be fascinated by the thought of placing a thrilling, psychological thriller into such an unlikely surrounding?
Josh Hartnett who acts as the lead character Cooper revealed that the motivation of the play was the internal contradiction where a caring father co-existed with a psychopathic murderer. He said that he enjoyed such a task though it was quite engaging to portray such strong contrasting emotions.
Saleka Shyamalan playing a pop star in the movie as a character Lady Raven not only acted in this film but also contributed to the music part of the film as she wrote and sang the songs for the movie. She explained how it was to be able to create the songs from the viewpoint of the character into a new level of the artistry I felt that the concert scenes were important for the plot of the movie.
Thus, love Shyamalan for his attempts to show unexpected twists and to make an audience plunge into the world he has created, Trap has to be watched by fans of the grandmaster of the genre and those who try to distinguish between the show and the real life.
