Warner Bros. has released the newest trailer for M. Night Shyamalan’s latest thriller, “Trap.” The film stars Josh Hartnett as a doding father who takes his young daughter (Ariel Donoghue) to a concert where a pop icon (featuring performances by rising music star Saleka Shyamalan.) is performing. Though this may seem like a typical father and daughter bonding time kind of film, we quickly learn that it’s not what it seems, especially when it is designed to make it look like Hartnett’s character is a serial killer and the entire concert is an elaborate trap designed by local police to arrest the elusive killer.
As the trailer slowly reveals who the Butcher is and his methods of staying two steps ahead of the police. His movements are calculated, with him accidentally bumping into a concert goer and taking her to first aid so that he can obtain a police radio communicator. By listening in, he can see how close they are to him. Meanwhile, we overhear an unseen criminal psychologist predicting what the Butcher would do to get out of the situation by saying he would try to cause chaos – like pulling a fire alarm. The fact that there are vertical lines that cut through the trailer itself also indicates that we aren’t seeing the full picture and that there’s more to the film than that’s being teased in the trailer.
The trailer also hints that the film could be taking place in two different places – one in the venue and the other where the Butcher frequents like a home or safehouse – or at least two different timelines. Either way, we should be prepared for the usual unexpected twist.
Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, “Trap” also stars Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.
The director of photography is Sayombhu Mukdeeprom (“Call Me by Your Name”). The production designer is Debbie de Villa (“The Hating Game”). It is edited by Noëmi Preiswerk. The original songs are written, produced and performed by Saleka Night Shyamalan. The music is by Herdĭs Stefănsdŏttir (“Knock at the Cabin”) and the music supervisor is Susan Jacobs (“Old”). The costume designer is Caroline Duncan (“Old”). The VFX supervisor is Javier Marcheselli (“Dune”). The casting is by Douglas Aibel (“Asteroid City”).
Here’s the official logline for “Trap:”
A father and teen daughter attend a pop concert, where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.
