TRAP

M. Night Shyamalan brings us a fabulous, modern-day Hitchcockian tale that follows Cooper (Josh Hartnett), a loving father, taking his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to see her favorite performer Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan) live in concert. What Cooper is unaware of is the concert is a trap, setup to capture him as he's also known as The Butcher, a serial killer who's killed 12 people with another victim waiting in the wings. I love the fact the story shows you its hand up front and lets you chew on it for the entire film. Some suspension of disbelief is required as Cooper is constantly thinking of excuses to leave his daughter to enjoy the show while he seeks an escape route. I was really impressed with both Harnett's performance (he can easily flip the switch between dotting father and monster) while Saleka is a very talented performer. However, I wouldn't say the film ran long as it didn't but the ending did. A couple of times it felt like the end but then it continued on (although overall I was satisfied with the final shot before the credits rolled). As I've said in the past, Shyamalan typically banks his films on the endings and this delivered and this is one of his better films that he's released since 2019's GLASS. Worth the watch in theaters. 7/10