Last year, M. Night Shyamalan asked himself a very important question: “What if The Silence Of The Lambs happened at a Taylor Swift concert?” which, to most people, sounds like a one-off Tweet never to be fleshed out or revisited. But to the director, it became the premise for his upcoming thriller, Trap. Sometimes those 3 a.m. thoughts turn into something beautiful.
In Trap, Josh Hartnett plays a father bringing his daughter to an arena pop concert not dissimilar to The Eras Tour, only it turns out that the concert is just a trap to catch a serial killer. In reality, The Eras Tour was much harder to get tickets to, so let’s just get that out of the way right now. Nobody was just walking right into that concert.
The movie is actually inspired by Operation Flagship, a real-life sting operation in which a team of U.S. Marshals sent invitations to thousands of fugitives offering them a chance to win Super Bowl tickets, which many of them fell for. In the end, over 100 arrests were made to unsuspecting criminals who were hoping to see the big game. They didn’t.
“It was hilarious,” Shyamalan told Empire. “The cops were literally cheerleaders and mascots. These guys were dancing as they came in. And they were all caught. It was so twisted and funny.” Those are two of the best words to describe Shyamalan’s greatest hits, so we are in for a treat here. Here’s everything you need to know about Trap before it premieres next month.
Plot
Hartnett portrays Cooper, a dad who is making his daughter’s life by taking her to see pop star Lady Raven in concert. As the concert gets underway and Cooper notices an increased police presence, and he soon learns that the entire concert is a set-up to catch The Butcher, a loose serial killer. And that killer just so happens to be him. Whoops!
Keep in mind, this is a Shyamalan feature, so there might be more twists and turns beyond what we see in the trailer. At this time, there are also no press screenings for the movie, which could mean nothing, or that they are trying to keep the plot even more secretive. This is the first time Shyamalan has released a movie with Warner Bros. since 2006’s Lady in the Water.
The movie is supposed to feel like a concert, too, with original songs written by Saleka Shyamalan, the director’s daughter. The premise of a movie taking place entirely during a concert might seem bizarre, but Shyamalan is no stranger to trying new things. “I want the industry to move towards more original storytelling. I think audiences would really like it,” he told Empire. “Look, I know there’s safety in IP. But it’s really important that we come to the movies and see something we’ve never seen before. I’ll keep fighting for that.”
Cast
Aside from Hartnett, the cast includes Ariel Donoghue, Hayley Mills, Alison Pill, Marnie McPhail, and Kid Cudi. Shyamalan’s daughter Saleka makes her film debut as Lady Raven, the pop star in question. Saleka wrote 14 original songs to be featured in the film.
Release Date
The Trap concert experience hits theaters on August 2nd.
Trailer
If you’ve been to a movie at all in the last three months, you’ve probably seen this trailer. Here it is again, because it’s just that good:
