Trap (2024)
August 12, 2024 4:37 PM - Subscribe
A father and his teen daughter attend a pop concert only to realize they've entered the center of a dark and sinister event.
It really seems like MNS cast Hayley Mills just so he could have an actor who is mainly famous for the Parent Trap play a role in his movie about a very different kind of parent trap. Just a little metatextual in-joke. I approve.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 5:16 PM on August 12 [7 favorites]
posted by Pater Aletheias at 5:16 PM on August 12 [7 favorites]
I had to watch this for work (I work for the studio that distributed it) and I hated it so very much. The suspension of belief that was required every single time Cooper eluded the authorities was a lot - too much to make it fun. Cat and mouse should be fun!
And then there's Cooper's motivation - he doesn't like people who are confident? The mean girl and her mother are not confident. They're bitchy mean girls and we all know bitchy mean girls are some of the most insecure people on the planet.
But my big beef: "We're all monsters/none of us are monsters" is also a Big Theme for his other daughter's movie that just came out (The Watchers). If this family is going through some sort of thing, I'm sorry and I wish them the best, but this concept has actually been explored by better filmmakers many times before. In 2024 I really think you have to go beyond just saying (in a very serious voice) "we're all monsters."
posted by queensissy at 5:45 PM on August 12 [7 favorites]
And then there's Cooper's motivation - he doesn't like people who are confident? The mean girl and her mother are not confident. They're bitchy mean girls and we all know bitchy mean girls are some of the most insecure people on the planet.
But my big beef: "We're all monsters/none of us are monsters" is also a Big Theme for his other daughter's movie that just came out (The Watchers). If this family is going through some sort of thing, I'm sorry and I wish them the best, but this concept has actually been explored by better filmmakers many times before. In 2024 I really think you have to go beyond just saying (in a very serious voice) "we're all monsters."
posted by queensissy at 5:45 PM on August 12 [7 favorites]
I award 4 stars for the continuity detail of having Josh Hartnett eat a soft pretzel and then having soft pretzel stuck between his two front teeth in intense closeup for at least a full minute in the very next scene and it not being addressed at all.
Wait really? Is THAT what’s going on in that closeup? It’s been puzzling me since the first trailer dropped.
posted by Pryde at 7:03 PM on August 12 [1 favorite]
Wait really? Is THAT what’s going on in that closeup? It’s been puzzling me since the first trailer dropped.
posted by Pryde at 7:03 PM on August 12 [1 favorite]
The theory about the teeth online is that Cooper required such control over his life that he would never allow the tooth gap that Harnett has in real life, and that fixing the gap was done better in some shots than others.
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 9:33 PM on August 12 [2 favorites]
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 9:33 PM on August 12 [2 favorites]
I can't stomach horror movies but I enjoyed this woman's explanation with spoilers of why this movie was bad.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 8:02 AM on August 13 [2 favorites]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 8:02 AM on August 13 [2 favorites]
I had listened to a podcast where the reviewer essentially stated you had to almost view it was a comedy to appreciate the film. For those of you who have seen it, would going in with that expectation changed anything?
posted by Atreides at 8:05 AM on August 13
posted by Atreides at 8:05 AM on August 13
you had to almost view it was a comedy to appreciate the film
No, that movie is Old. Old is a Shyamalan horror movie that is only good if you view it as a comedy. When (spoiler) osteoporosis lady chases the kids through the tunnel? My god. 😗👌
Trap was just nothing! It was a nothing movie. Neither good nor bad nor funny in its lack thereof. It somehow manages to evoke no emotional response whatsoever. Artistic genius.
posted by phunniemee at 8:15 AM on August 13 [7 favorites]
No, that movie is Old. Old is a Shyamalan horror movie that is only good if you view it as a comedy. When (spoiler) osteoporosis lady chases the kids through the tunnel? My god. 😗👌
Trap was just nothing! It was a nothing movie. Neither good nor bad nor funny in its lack thereof. It somehow manages to evoke no emotional response whatsoever. Artistic genius.
posted by phunniemee at 8:15 AM on August 13 [7 favorites]
It really seems like MNS cast Hayley Mills just so he could have an actor who is mainly famous for the Parent Trap play a role in his movie about a very different kind of parent trap.
Does anyone in this movie get saved by a bell?
posted by trig at 9:22 AM on August 13 [3 favorites]
Does anyone in this movie get saved by a bell?
posted by trig at 9:22 AM on August 13 [3 favorites]
ThePinkSuperhero, thanks for posting that! That gal is not exaggerating about the plot. She is, IMHO, exaggerating about how amusing it was. Take phunniemee's word - this is just a blank.
Full disclosure - I didn't even like Old because I was really wanting some hilarious schlock and it was just weird to me. Just talked to a friend who felt the same. Maybe I'll try to concoct a drinking game around it and try again.
posted by queensissy at 10:30 AM on August 13 [1 favorite]
Full disclosure - I didn't even like Old because I was really wanting some hilarious schlock and it was just weird to me. Just talked to a friend who felt the same. Maybe I'll try to concoct a drinking game around it and try again.
posted by queensissy at 10:30 AM on August 13 [1 favorite]
No matter what you have heard, this movie is three hours and forty-five minutes long.
By the clock, I have been sitting here for an hour, but that is a filthy lie. I have been here for two hours already. Two and a half, maybe.
I have missed multiple mealtimes. I have begun to contemplate my own mortality.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:31 AM on August 13 [14 favorites]
By the clock, I have been sitting here for an hour, but that is a filthy lie. I have been here for two hours already. Two and a half, maybe.
I have missed multiple mealtimes. I have begun to contemplate my own mortality.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:31 AM on August 13 [14 favorites]
Very sorry to hear. Can me or Alison Pill get you some pie
posted by phunniemee at 10:35 AM on August 13 [5 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 10:35 AM on August 13 [5 favorites]
It has been two hours since my last message.
I no longer believe the world outside the multiplex even still exists.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:47 AM on August 13 [7 favorites]
I no longer believe the world outside the multiplex even still exists.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:47 AM on August 13 [7 favorites]
would you say you feel... trapped
posted by phunniemee at 10:52 AM on August 13 [11 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 10:52 AM on August 13 [11 favorites]
What if the real trap was the wack-ass movie we saw along the way?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:53 AM on August 13 [4 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:53 AM on August 13 [4 favorites]
If this starred a comedian who played this as a little more manic, if it had loopier music, and if it were fifteen minutes shorter, it might have worked.
I guess what I am saying is, this should have been played for camp.
Some folks could maybe enjoy it as unintentional camp, I guess.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:01 AM on August 13 [4 favorites]
I guess what I am saying is, this should have been played for camp.
Some folks could maybe enjoy it as unintentional camp, I guess.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:01 AM on August 13 [4 favorites]
Thank you everyone for the answers. Let me know if I need to send an elite squad of chattery teenagers with phones on bright to disrupt your everlasting movie going experience.
posted by Atreides at 11:32 AM on August 13 [2 favorites]
posted by Atreides at 11:32 AM on August 13 [2 favorites]
Just a few additional thoughts:
1) Fandom of serial killers was lightly broached in a film with fandom of pop stars at its core, and I never fully forgave the movie for leaving the red meat of comparing those untouched on the table. Imagine a film where there was a cat & mouse between a serial killer and a pop star, each supported by their fans. That would be a dynamite movie.
2) Shyamalan did himself a disservice by making his daughter's music central to the film. This is not at all because it was in any way bad. It seemed fine. Totally plausible, at least in a pop star in a movie kind of way. The issue is, by using his real daughter and her real music, he felt compelled to make her look cool. The satirical knives were never going to be a part of his toolkit. (Though satire isn't in his toolkit anyway.)
3) Imagine a film version of this made in 1998 by Joel Schumacher, that walked the line between po-faced serious and intentional camp. Imagine Jim Carrey as Cooper, vacillating wildly between lovable everydad and unhinged weirdo. Imagine Mandy Moore as the pop star, in a positively savage pisstake of late 20th century teen pop stars.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:39 AM on August 13 [6 favorites]
1) Fandom of serial killers was lightly broached in a film with fandom of pop stars at its core, and I never fully forgave the movie for leaving the red meat of comparing those untouched on the table. Imagine a film where there was a cat & mouse between a serial killer and a pop star, each supported by their fans. That would be a dynamite movie.
2) Shyamalan did himself a disservice by making his daughter's music central to the film. This is not at all because it was in any way bad. It seemed fine. Totally plausible, at least in a pop star in a movie kind of way. The issue is, by using his real daughter and her real music, he felt compelled to make her look cool. The satirical knives were never going to be a part of his toolkit. (Though satire isn't in his toolkit anyway.)
3) Imagine a film version of this made in 1998 by Joel Schumacher, that walked the line between po-faced serious and intentional camp. Imagine Jim Carrey as Cooper, vacillating wildly between lovable everydad and unhinged weirdo. Imagine Mandy Moore as the pop star, in a positively savage pisstake of late 20th century teen pop stars.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:39 AM on August 13 [6 favorites]
I used to make a movie podcast and we did our utmost best to not shit on the movies, even if they were seriously terrible... that said, I think I'd enjoy a DOT livestream of big budget meh movies.
posted by Molesome at 4:06 AM on August 14 [1 favorite]
posted by Molesome at 4:06 AM on August 14 [1 favorite]
I really tend to be overly generous, most times. My Letterboxd reviews are mostly a star too high, looking back on them. But this one made my ass itch.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 4:48 AM on August 14 [3 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 4:48 AM on August 14 [3 favorites]
Nearly every lie he tells is played to the audience with a flat-footed (and kind of wooden) I-am-lying-right-now performance, despite the movie having its characters tell us two or three times explicitly what a fantastic, undetectable liar he is. Play it straight! We know from context that you're lying! The creepiness can come from how good you are at it.
(The pop star's performance was also peculiarly extra wooden in that pretending-to-be-his-mom scene in the garage-parked car, but I hadn't realized it was nepocasting until seeing so here, so maybe that explains that.)
posted by nobody at 4:04 PM on August 30 [1 favorite]
(The pop star's performance was also peculiarly extra wooden in that pretending-to-be-his-mom scene in the garage-parked car, but I hadn't realized it was nepocasting until seeing so here, so maybe that explains that.)
posted by nobody at 4:04 PM on August 30 [1 favorite]
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A remarkably mediocre film. Which is impressive actually considering Shyamalan's oeuvre is mostly high highs and low lows. So mediocre in fact that I came home and watched The Visit just to keep the vibe so mid.
I award 4 stars for the continuity detail of having Josh Hartnett eat a soft pretzel and then having soft pretzel stuck between his two front teeth in intense closeup for at least a full minute in the very next scene and it not being addressed at all.
posted by phunniemee at 4:54 PM on August 12 [6 favorites]