To graduate from being a run-of-the-mill film director to being called a “film auteur,” there needs to be an undeniably unique style, form or fashion to a person’s movies.
Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese are all such auteurs who have earned that title with their own unique styles.
(Nolan is perhaps best known for deeply convoluted plots, Tarantino for hyper-stylized violence and Scorsese for pretty much only producing epics.)
M. Night Shyamalan has also earned the moniker of “auteur,” and that’s thanks to his insistence on including jarring plot twists in most of his films.
The 53-year-old Indian director’s latest film, however, appears to take that expected plot twist… and put it right into the film’s trailer.
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“Trap” is Shyamalan’s latest film, and also a collaboration with his daughter, and first appears to be pretty straightforward.
The main character, portrayed by Josh Hartnett, is your normal dad, cracking bad dad jokes.
Hartnett’s character is taking his daughter to a concert that seems like some sort of amalgamation between Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga.
“Lady Raven,” who is portrayed by Shyamalan’s daughter, is clearly a big hit with the teens and the concert appears to go swimmingly.
Do you have any interest in seeing “Trap”?
That is, until, Hartnett’s father character needed to use the bathroom.
While navigating the labyrinthine halls of a concert venue, Hartnett’s character notices an unusually heavy police presence at the arena.
That’s when he stops to ask a merchandise employee what’s going on.
And then. Well.
You’re better off just watching for yourself:
WARNING: The following trailer contains some imagery that viewers may find disturbing.
Boom. Classic M. Night Shyamalan plot twist. But in the trailer?
(This writer’s two cents: The twist in the trailer is a red herring, and the real “Butcher” will be someone else. Maybe the daughter?)
It’s an odd choice but it’s certainly generating some chatter online and on social media.
Shyamalan’s winding career has seen its share of ups and downs, but he really became a household name with the release of 1999 thriller “The Sixth Sense.”
WARNING: Spoilers will follow for a number of Shyamalan movies.
That movie’s twist involved the main character being an apparition of a dead person.
From there, the auteur released a string of movies of wildly varying quality:
- “Unbreakable” – 2000: The twist is that Bruce Willis’ character is a superhero, and Samuel L. Jackson’s meek character is a supervillain. Generally a well-received movie.
- “Signs” – 2002: The twist is that the aliens are weak to water. Generally a well-received movie.
- “The Village” – 2004: The twist is that the old-timey village is actually in modern times. This movie received highly mixed reviews.
The mixed response to “The Village” would signal the beginning of Shyamalan’s movies vacillating wildly in quality, though quantity wasn’t an issue.
The man produced a whopping nine movies after “The Village,” pumping a film out almost every other year. Those films include “Split” (the twist is that the film’s main character is a supervillain in the same universe as “Unbreakable,” thus making it a pseudo-sequel) and his most recent offering, the generally well-reviewed “Knock at the Cabin.”
Fans can determine for themselves if “Trap” is more “The Village” or more “The Sixth Sense” when it comes out August 9, 2024.
