Now that worldwide concert tours are back in full swing, director M. Night Shyamalan’s new psychological thriller Trap arrives at the perfect time.
Shyamalan’s latest release, starring Josh Hartnett, turns the classic concert movie format into a dark and sinister thriller.
Trap follows Cooper (Hartnett), a doting father who takes his teenage daughter to a concert by pop artist Lady Raven (Shyamalan’s daughter, Saleka Shyamalan). The twist, as revealed in the film’s trailer, is that Cooper is also a serial killer known as “The Butcher”. Unbeknownst to everyone in attendance, the entire concert is a trap laid on to catch Cooper.
“It’s such an interesting role to take on, I couldn’t turn it down,” Hartnett told Breakfast. “The role itself was ultimately going to be a huge challenge, but I always love a challenge.
“It wasn’t about [the film] being about a good or a bad guy. What I love about it is that it has a really complicated psychology and that psychology is hidden in this sort of mundane psychology.”
Shyamalan is no stranger to the thriller genre, having directed The Sixth Sense, Signs, The Village, and Old, among others.
“The only way I can compete against Despicable Me 4 or Deadpool is to make something really different that stands out, where you guys go, ‘I’ve never seen that’.
“Because if you’ve seen it, you’re just going to watch it somewhere else, or you’ll wait.”
In addition to starring as a pop star in Trap, Shyamalan’s daughter Saleka wrote and produced songs for the film’s soundtrack.
“Bringing her into the film world was easy on the character that was slightly different than her, so she had a ladder into it,” he said.
“Saleka as a musical artist is at the very top for me, her abilities and craftsmanship.”
That Trap looks like a real-life concert is no coincidence, said Hartnett.
“It was a real-life concert. Saleka wrote these songs and performed them. We had thousands of extras that had access to the music beforehand so that they would know the songs.
“I went to The Eras Tour recently with my kids, and it was exactly the same sort of energy.”
Shyamalan said Trap is an immersive experience.
“I can’t wait for all the fans in New Zealand to see this movie in a movie theatre because it was always meant to be a super immersive experience.
“You’re going to feel like you saw a concert.”
Trap is out now in New Zealand cinemas.
