“Old M. Night Shyamalan Is Back”? Early Reactions to Trap Praise Josh Hartnett

Early reviews of M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap most consistently praise Josh Hartnett’s unsettling performance—not the film as an undisputed return to form. Some critics found the concert-set thriller tense, entertaining, or surprisingly straightforward; others objected to its dialogue, comic tone, plotting, and implausibilities.

What happens in Trap?

In this 2024 thriller, Cooper (Josh Hartnett) takes his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to a concert by pop performer Lady Raven (Saleka Night Shyamalan). At the event, he discovers that police are using the concert to try to catch a serial killer known as the Butcher. The setup turns a crowded pop spectacle into the setting for a hunt—and makes Cooper’s place in that hunt central to the film’s tension.

#	Preview	Product	Price
1		Trap (Blu-ray)	$13.94	Buy on Amazon
2		The Trap [Blu-ray]	$23.01	Buy on Amazon
3		Trap [Blu-ray] [2024]	$17.76	Buy on Amazon
4		The Trap [Blu-ray]	$14.99	Buy on Amazon
5		Rabbit Trap	$11.19	Buy on Amazon

Shyamalan described the premise to The Atlantic as, “What if The Silence of the Lambs happened at a Taylor Swift concert?” The Atlantic’s profile of Shyamalan places that pitch within the director’s effort to build a theatrical thriller around an unusual, immediately legible situation.

The film opened in US theaters on August 2, 2024, and in the UK on August 9, according to The Guardian. Apple TV’s US catalog lists its runtime as 1 hour 45 minutes: Apple TV’s Trap listing.

#1 Best Overall

Trap (Blu-ray)

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What do the first reactions to Trap praise?

Hartnett’s controlled, unsettling performance

The clearest recurring positive in the early-review material is Hartnett. Rotten Tomatoes’ first-review roundup presents him as the force powering a surprisingly straightforward thriller. Excerpts collected by Metacritic likewise include praise for an unsettling performance and a story with multiple facets.

The Atlantic also argues that Hartnett gives the movie much of its unusual charm. That is a meaningful endorsement of the lead, but it is not the same as saying every part of the film works: the review also points to plot holes and implausibilities. Its review of Trap describes a film whose humor is part of its appeal, while leaving room for viewers to find that tone awkward or distracting.

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The Trap [Blu-ray]

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Tension and a premise with a clear hook

Some of the early responses highlighted a tense narrative or found the central idea entertaining. The film’s basic dramatic engine is easy to grasp: the police are searching a concert crowd for the Butcher, while Cooper must navigate the event with Riley. That contrast between an ordinary parent-child outing and a police operation gives the thriller a built-in source of suspense.

But reviewers did not agree that the execution sustains the premise. Metacritic’s excerpts include a note of third-act weakness, so praise for the setup or tension should not be taken as an endorsement of the plotting all the way through.

Rank #3

Trap [Blu-ray] [2024]

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Why the “Shyamalan is back” claim needs a qualifier

“Old M. Night Shyamalan Is Back” is a reaction-style framing, not a settled verdict. The early reviews support a narrower point: Hartnett’s performance stood out, and some critics enjoyed the film’s direct, heightened thriller approach. They do not establish a consensus that Trap marks an across-the-board return to form.

The divided response is especially clear on tone and execution. The Atlantic finds an oddly funny quality in the movie and sees that as part of its charm, while The Guardian’s review calls it a mess and criticizes the dialogue, humor, characterization, rushed situations, and logic. That is one critic’s evaluation rather than an objective description or universal consensus, but it demonstrates why the headline’s enthusiasm should be read as a point of view, not a summary of all reactions.

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The Trap [Blu-ray]

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Shyamalan’s theatrical instincts also drew support from producer Michael De Luca, the Warner Bros. executive who signed the director to a distribution deal. In The Atlantic profile, De Luca says: “I feel like he is closer to what the average audience member might leave the house and go see as a theatrical movie than certainly a lot of us that are based in Hollywood.” That comment is about Shyamalan’s appeal and audience-facing filmmaking; it does not resolve the mixed critical response to this particular film.

Is Trap a good fit for your watchlist?

The early reviews point to three useful questions for deciding whether the film suits you:

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Rabbit Trap

• Elijah Wood's SpectreVision
• Fairy Folklore
• "Particularly Frightening and Very Haunting" - Slashfilm

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• Performance: If you are drawn to a controlled, unsettling lead performance, Hartnett is the aspect critics most consistently single out.
• Tone: The movie mixes thriller tension with heightened, sometimes comic material. Reviewers differed on whether that mix is entertaining or undermines the suspense.
• Execution: The concert-and-police-operation premise supplies a strong hook, but some reviewers found problems with dialogue, logic, pacing, or the later plotting.

Those trade-offs make Trap a more specific recommendation than “Shyamalan is back”: it may appeal if you enjoy a high-concept thriller that is willing to be strange and funny, but less so if you want tightly realistic police logic or consistently serious suspense.

Quick Recap

Bestseller No. 1

Trap (Blu-ray)

$13.94

Bestseller No. 2

The Trap [Blu-ray]

Factory sealed DVD

$23.01

Bestseller No. 3

Trap [Blu-ray] [2024]

Trap

$17.76

Bestseller No. 4

The Trap [Blu-ray]

$14.99

Bestseller No. 5

Rabbit Trap

Elijah Wood's SpectreVision; Fairy Folklore; "Particularly Frightening and Very Haunting" - Slashfilm

$11.19