What Did I Just Watch: Trap (2024)
As a big fan of Halloween and fall, it should be no surprise that I love a good horror movie. When I was young, movies like Coraline (2009) and The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) (I will not be fielding any comments about it being a Christmas movie; you’re simply wrong) were the ones that threw me down the rabbit hole. And now, years later, I love a good haunting on film. Some of my favorites over the years have been The Visit (2015), The Conjuring (2013), Poltergeist (1982), and probably more I am forgetting about at the moment.
In honor of the ghostly season, it was always tradition for me to be caught watching whatever horror movie was buzzing around that year. I mentioned this offhandedly to a couple of friends last year, at my first Halloqueen. Someone joked that we should ditch the rest of the festivities to watch one and, against our better judgment, that’s exactly what happened. Did it result in me going to bed at 3 a.m. and having to wake up for LRW the next morning? Yes. Was it also one of my favorite memories from 1L? Also, Yes.
In a post-Halloqueen 2 a.m. fever dream, we watched a horror movie that matched the vibe perfectly, Trap (2024). And in honor of another Halloqueen coming and going, I thought it would be fitting to revisit this bizarre film. Though most genres have their handful of bad movies, something about the genre of horror is particularly vulnerable to “so bad, it’s good” movies. Maybe it’s because the concept of subverting an audience and scaring the crowd is difficult to execute, or horror movies are just not high-brow enough to get the attention they deserve. Nevertheless, this entire movie felt like a high school theatre production in the best and worst ways. Spoiler warnings ahead for those who have, for some odd reason, not seen this brilliant masterpiece.
The plot of the movie is seemingly simple. The main character, Cooper Adams, is bringing his tween daughter, Riley, to the concert of fictional popstar, Lady Raven (played by M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter).1 There is a serial killer loose in the town, and we learn that the whole concert is a front for the FBI to find the man known as “the Butcher.” In an unsurprising turn of events, we soon find out that Cooper is indeed “the Butcher” and is holding a victim hostage in a basement. We follow Cooper as he tries to evade the FBI presence by making friends with a security guard and posing as a stand-up dad with his daughter. The first hour of the movie follows Cooper backstage at the concert, trying to cause enough diversions to leave the venue unscathed, all interspersed with full-length songs by Lady Raven. Tonal shifts are executed fully by jump cuts. Cooper eventually figures out a way to get his daughter on stage by lying that she is recovering from cancer, allowing them to meet Lady Raven in a special backstage area after the show.
Trapped and seemingly out of options, I thought the movie was winding down for a big reveal and fight scene. Boy, was I wrong. Instead of being caught and cornered by officers, Cooper secretly tells Lady Raven his identity and threatens to kill the hostage if she does not chauffeur him and Riley out of the venue. She complies and drives home with them, where they all meet up with Cooper’s wife. Lady Raven manages to get her fans to find the hostage and free him through an Instagram Live, and he and his family narrowly escape from Cooper. However, Cooper has also escaped and returns home to find out his wife was the one who tipped off the police officers, and she poisons him with a pie while bringing up his mommy issues and OCD (yes, this all really happens in the movie). He is captured by the FBI agents, dragged out in handcuffs, but manages to steal a bike part to unlock his handcuffs in full view of the police force. In the back of the van, unlocking his cuffs, the screen fades to black.
The credits rolled, and the room was filled with laughter and loud screaming, not in fear, but astonishment. The movie had been absurd, hilarious, predictable, and shocking all at once, which is the perfect cocktail for a late-night Halloween viewing. Maybe that’s what I love most about horror movies: Even when they miss, they still hit in their own strange way. I highly recommend not just this movie, but group viewings of horror movies, because no matter how bad it is, nothing beats the experience of witnessing such ludicrousness together.
[1] M. Night Shyamalan is the director and writer of this movie. And honestly, the entire movie’s writing can be explained away by the fact that his daughter is trying to launch a music career.
