Despite Low Ratings, M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Crossing One Milestone Could Be the Film’s Only Saving Grace

M. Night Shyamalan is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers in Hollywood. Even so, much like any other professional, his career too has seen ups and downs. However, that might finally change as his most recent venture, Trap is about to cross a milestone.

Trap landed in the theatres this Friday, and although things might not have been looking that good in terms of ratings, it is about to break a record set by one of Shyamalan’s own movies.

M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap is About to Take Over a Major Milestone

M. Night Shyamalan began his journey as a filmmaker with the semi-autobiographical film Praying with Anger. He directed and co-wrote several other movies before making his breakthrough with the 1999 psychological thriller The Sixth Sense. The film earned him critical acclaim as it earned six Academy Award nominations including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.

Following this and a couple of other movies, Shyamalan had a string of failures including Lady in the Water and The Last Airbender. Things began to look up a little with the release of his 2015 horror thriller film The Visit.

Shyamalan’s most recent project is Trap, which stars Josh Hartnett in the lead role. Hartnett plays the character of a serial killer who realizes that the pop concert he is attending with his teen daughter is a police-string operation to capture him.

According to Variety, the film made $6.7 million just from its theatrical run across Friday and preview screenings at 3,181 locations. This too is a major milestone as this box office collection is $5.4 million higher than the opening day earnings of Shyamalan’s last movie Knock at the Cabin, which featured an ensemble cast including Harry Potter fame Rupert Grint and MCU star Dave Bautista.

The movie has received a 47% critics score and a 63% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. In fact, even on the ticket buyer survey firm Cinema Score, the scenario is not much different as it has determined a mere C+ grade for the film (via Variety). Considering all of this, the box office performance can be considered a silver lining to the cloud looming over Shyamalan’s new flick.

Josh Hartnett on How He Understood His Character Better

Shyamalan’s movies have been known for twist endings that would leave the viewers surprised. Even as the element has reduced over the years, the director still gives the audience a new kind of experience, and Trap remains no exception.

During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Hartnett revealed that he had to understand the thought process of his character Cooper as the entire movie is from this serial killer’s point of view.

For doing this, the actor took inspiration from real life who might not be serial killers but are emotionally detached enough that it would get the job done.

There are a lot of CEOs, politicians, people in our business… a lot of people who are at the top. They don’t mind stepping over people or doing horrible things to get where they’re going, and not having any empathy is a pretty big sign of being a psychopath.

This shift in perspective along with the ending which sees Cooper blackmailing the pop star into dropping him and his daughter home are the things that make it feel like a Shyamalan movie.