Trap (2024 film) explained
Trap is a 2024 American psychological thriller film written, directed, and produced by M. Night Shyamalan. Starring Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Night Shyamalan, Hayley Mills, and Alison Pill, it follows a serial killer evading a police blockade while attending a concert with his daughter. The film was shot in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, in late 2023. It premiered in New York City on July 24, 2024, and was theatrically released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on August 2, 2024. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $82.7 million worldwide on a $30million production budget.
Plot
Philadelphia firefighter Cooper takes his teenage daughter, Riley, to pop star Lady Raven's concert as a reward for her good grades. There, Cooper notices the unusually high police presence around the concert venue. He learns from a vendor named Jamie that the FBI plans to catch a serial killer known as "the Butcher", having learned he will be in attendance. Cooper is revealed to be the Butcher himself, secretly checking footage on his phone of his latest captive victim, Spencer, in a basement. He steals Jamie's ID card and learns the passphrase that will identify him as an employee, using the card to gain access to a back room and steals a police radio.
Hearing a woman predicting his movements over the radio, Cooper sets off an explosion in a food stand's kitchen and uses the chaos to access the roof where he learns from a police officer that the manhunt is led by Dr. Josephine Grant, an FBI profiler. Confused by Cooper's behavior, Riley asks him to stay with her. She talks about being chosen as Lady Raven's "Dreamer Girl" who gets to dance on stage with the singer and receives backstage access, which Cooper believes has the only exit not covered by the police. Cooper lies to Lady Raven's uncle that Riley recently recovered from leukemia, getting her selected to be the "Dreamer Girl".
However, after the concert ends, Cooper learns that police are also guarding the backstage exit. He privately reveals himself as the Butcher to Lady Raven, threatening to remotely kill Spencer if she does not escort him and Riley out in her limousine. She complies but asks to come to Riley's house, where she stalls for time by explaining the FBI operation to the family, unsettling Cooper by describing Grant's profile of him as someone with maternal issues and obsessive–compulsive disorder. She also explains that the police discovered details about the Butcher's attendance at the concert via a torn ticket receipt left in a vacant house that was reported anonymously.
Lady Raven steals Cooper's phone and locks herself in the bathroom. She obtains details from Spencer about where he was taken and livestreams it to her fans, one of whom finds and rescues him. She outs Cooper to his wife Rachel and he locks his family upstairs while Lady Raven texts her driver to contact the police. Cooper attempts to drive off with Lady Raven, but Cooper's family escapes and distracts him long enough for her to flee into her limousine. The police arrive and Cooper flees the house through a secret tunnel before disguising himself using a SWAT uniform and driving the limousine off with Lady Raven. After he reveals his identity, she unlocks the window and draws a mob of fans to stop him so the FBI can catch up. Cooper changes into a fresh set of civilian clothes and gets away.
Cooper returns home and confronts Rachel. Rachel confesses that she had suspected he was the Butcher and left the receipt in the vacant house for the police to find, thus revealing that she was the one who tipped them off. Cooper decides to kill her and then himself, but Rachel persuades him to share some leftover pie made for Riley. After Cooper admits his rage for Rachel in causing him to miss seeing his children grow up, he realizes Rachel drugged the pie with pills from his tool bag, leading him to hallucinate his mother expressing pride in him for feeling a real emotion. The hallucination is actually Grant, impersonating Cooper's mother to calm him down, and he is tased by Grant and two SWAT officers as he walks up to her. As he is led away, he stops to adjust Riley's bicycle and shares a tearful embrace with her before being loaded into a police van. As it drives away, Cooper unchains his cuffs with a bicycle spoke he secretly took, laughing to himself.
Cast
- Josh Hartnett as Cooper, a firefighter and Riley's father
- Ariel Donoghue as Riley, Cooper's daughter and a fan of Lady Raven
- Saleka Night Shyamalan as Lady Raven, a famous singer
- Alison Pill as Rachel, Cooper's wife and Riley and Logan's mother
- Hayley Mills as Dr. Josephine Grant, an FBI profiler
- Jonathan Langdon as Jamie, a vendor at the concert
- Mark Bacolcol as Spencer, a captive of the Butcher
- Marnie McPhail-Diamond as Jody's mom, the mother of one of Riley's former friends
- Scott Mescudi as the Thinker, a singer who performs with Lady Raven
- Russell "Russ" Vitale as Parker Wayne, a singer who performs with Lady Raven
- Marcia Bennett as Cooper's mom, who appears to him in various hallucinations
- Lochlan Miller as Logan, Cooper and Rachel's youngest son
Additionally, M. Night Shyamalan makes a cameo appearance as Lady Raven's uncle (her mother's brother) who works as a spotter at the concert.
Production
Development and pre-production
In October 2022, Universal Pictures announced a then-untitled film from filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan.[4] In February 2023, the film was revealed to be titled Trap when it changed distributor, as Shyamalan and his production company Blinding Edge Pictures entered a first-look deal with Warner Bros. Pictures.[5] The film sprouted from conversations Shyamalan had with his daughter, singer-songwriter Saleka, about combining the concert and theatrical experience and devising an album for a narrative, similar to how Prince wrote the titular album for the 1984 musical film Purple Rain.[6] [7] Shyamalan initially planned to let another filmmaker write the script and direct the film from his original idea for a thriller set at a concert, before changing his mind after realizing he could make the film with Saleka.[8]
The premise was inspired in part by Operation Flagship, a 1985 sting operation in which disguised law enforcement arrested 101 wanted fugitives at a convention center, having invited them under the pretense of gifting them free NFL tickets and an opportunity to win an all-expenses-paid trip to Super Bowl XX.[9] [10] Shyamalan pitched Trap as setting The Silence of the Lambs (1991) at a Taylor Swift concert, in reference to her Eras Tour, and wrote the screenplay in five-and-a-half months, a personal record for him.[11] He produced the film with Marc Bienstock and Ashwin Rajan.[12]
Saleka stars as singer Lady Raven, whose concert the characters attend. As her father was writing the script, she composed fourteen songs for the film, designed diegetically to match the action onscreen.[13] Saleka previously collaborated with her father by making a single for the film Old (2021) and an EP for the series Servant.[14] [15] [16] Shyamalan was inspired to incorporate musical elements by Purple Rain and visiting Saleka on tour.[17] [18] Saleka also noted Bollywood cinema, in which music often plays a key role in the storytelling, as an influence, and listed Adele, Billie Eilish, Rihanna, Rosalía, and Taylor Swift as inspirations for her performance.[14] [19] [20] She described Trap as a "Shyamalan American version of a Bollywood movie that is grounded and the songs make sense — not necessarily a musical, but completely music-centric."[14]
As with his recent, self-funded projects, Shyamalan and a storyboard artist storyboarded the film and held extensive rehearsals with the actors.[21] [22] Shyamalan originally intended to frame the film in a 4:3 aspect ratio, but after a discussion with cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, they agreed it limited their ability to shoot the movie and was "too much work" to create a feeling of claustrophobia. They changed it to a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, and the film was re-storyboarded. Josh Hartnett did not watch any media in preparation for the role of "Cooper" to make the character his own and researched psychopathy, including books about serial killers.[23] [24] Shyamalan wrote Hayley Mills's investigator character as a "maternal figure" to contrast Cooper's lack of empathy.[25] Ariel Donoghue, who plays Cooper's daughter Riley, attended school in between filming.[26]
Filming and post-production
Principal photography was originally scheduled to begin in Cincinnati, Ohio, in August 2023, where it would have received over $9 million in tax credits from the state to film there.[27] [28] Production relocated to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and was granted an interim agreement on September 18, 2023, to film during the SAG-AFTRA strike.[29] [30] Under the working title Good Grades, filming was scheduled to occur from October 16 to December 8, 2023.[31] [32] The film's pop concert venue, known as "Tanaka Arena", was filmed in Hamilton, Ontario, inside FirstOntario Centre, a 20,000-seat arena that the production obtained access to for two to three months because it was undergoing renovations.[33] [34] Toronto's Rogers Centre stood in as the venue's exterior.[35]
Songs in the film were performed on stage as if it were a real concert. Cora Kozaris was the choreographer, and a videographer recorded onstage material and projected it onto the stadium's screens in real-time.[14] [15] The shoot involved thousands of extras, who were not told what the film was about but received Saleka's music beforehand to be able to sing along. Hartnett recalled multiple extras consoling him because they thought he was nervous and were unaware of the character he was playing.[25] [36] The order of filming consisted of audience reactions, with music playing, followed by Saleka dancing and miming on stage, and then, after the extras went quiet, actors with dialogue, with a beat track in the background to help actors maintain rhythm. Hartnett and Donoghue screamed parts of their dialogue to match the intended noise levels of a concert.[25] [26] For conversational scenes in which actors would look into the camera lens, Shyamalan attached a one-way mirror to the lens that would reflect off another mirror and allow the actor in close-up to see the other actor.[25] Trap was shot on 35mm film stock, which required the crew to wait three days for dailies to be processed and returned from a film laboratory in Los Angeles to review.[37]
Trap was released the same year as The Watchers, the directorial debut of Saleka's sister, Ishana Night Shyamalan; a poster for The Watchers appears in the background of a scene in Trap. Saleka and Ishana Shyamalan worked on their respective films on their family's property in Pennsylvania, with Saleka operating in a recording studio while Ishana mixed her film next door.[38] Editing and mixing were completed on June 22, 2024.[39] In August 2024, Deadline Hollywood reported the film's production budget to be $30 million.
Music
Herdís Stefánsdóttir composed the film's score independently from Saleka.[40] The soundtrack album, Lady Raven, features Kid Cudi and Russ (both of whom star in the film) as well as Amaarae.[41] It was released by Columbia Records on August 2, 2024. The songs "Release", "Save Me", and "Divine" were released as singles.[14] [42]
Release
Trap was released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures on August 2, 2024. It is the second film of Shyamalan's to be distributed by the studio after Lady in the Water (2006), and marks the filmmaker's departure from Universal Pictures, which distributed five consecutive films of his, starting with The Visit in 2015.[43] Universal initially scheduled the film's release for April 5, 2024.[4] In 2023, Warner Bros. acquired and pushed the film to August 2, 2024.[44] In 2024, they postponed it a week to August 9,[45] and later brought it forward to August 2 again.[43]
The film premiered at Alice Tully Hall in New York City on July 24, 2024.[46] [47] It did not screen for critics before its theatrical release. Regarding marketing results, RelishMix described social media buzz as "mixed-positive" and Deadline Hollywood reported low awareness but high interest similar to that received by Longlegs earlier in the year. Traps social media content accumulated 259.2 million impressions across platforms, 47 percent above norms for first-installment genre titles. The film was released on digital platforms on August 30, 2024. On November 5, 2024, it released on Blu-ray, DVD and Ultra HD Blu-ray.[48] Trap became available to stream on Max on October 25, 2024.[49]
Reception
Box office
Trap grossed $42.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $39.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $82.7 million.[2]
In the United States and Canada, Trap was projected to gross $15–20 million from 3,181 theaters in its opening weekend, with one estimate at $25million.[50] [51] [52] The film made $6.6 million on its first day,[53] including an estimated $2.2 million from Thursday night previews. It debuted to $15.5 million, finishing third at the box office behind holdovers Deadpool & Wolverine and Twisters.[54] [55] The film earned $6.7 million in its second weekend, shifting to sixth place,[56] and $3.4 million in its third, dropping to eighth.[57] It left the box office top ten in its fourth weekend with $1.7 million.[58]
Critical response
According to the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, critics thought the film was "another divisive work" from Shyamalan, "but its dark humor, tense atmosphere and a strong central performance may just be enough for fans of his work."[59]
Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed by PostTrak gave it an overall positive score of 66%, with an average rating of 2.5 out of 5 stars.[54]
Benjamin Lee of The Guardian gave the film 2/5 stars, writing, "Trap is a thriller that incorrectly thinks it's fiendishly smart. Maybe if it was more aware of how stupid it actually is, it might have been a lot more fun."[60] Peter Travers of ABC News wrote, "Hartnett performs miracles in making Cooper a serial butcher and a devoted family man living in the same body. You believe him, which is a trick Shyamalan otherwise fails to achieve as this misfire builds to a sequel-begging climax that ups the ante on shameless."[61] Vanity Fair's Richard Lawson said that Shyamalan "has built a solid foundation, as he tends to do: clever setup, appealing lead actor, and an interesting (and quite relevant) cultural milieu. But fairly quickly, Trap's sleek design peels away, and we see the shoddy engineering it's been hiding."[62]
Jesse Hassenger of The A.V. Club gave the film a B+ grade, writing that it "may cook more purely and entertainingly than anything in [Shyamalan's] last decade of self-styled pop hits. But it also suggests that there are discordant notes that he can't, and probably shouldn't, ever get out of his system."[63] IndieWire's Ryan Lattanzio gave it a B grade, calling it "too plausibility-stretching to be actually scary, but Hartnett's well-calibrated performance as a psycho dad, the type who sends PTA moms all aflutter, is too dangerously charismatic to ignore."[64]
In France, Cahiers du Cinéma placed it ninth on their top 10 films of 2024.[65]
Notes and References
- Web site: July 19, 2024. Trap (15). July 30, 2024. BBFC.
- Web site: Trap (2024). Box Office Mojo. October 1, 2024. August 5, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240805075212/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt26753003/. live.
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- News: D'Alessandro. Anthony. New M. Night Shyamalan Thriller Dated By Universal For 2024. Deadline Hollywood. October 7, 2022. October 7, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221007213219/https://deadline.com/2022/10/m-night-shyamalan-thriller-movie-2024-release-universal-1235138477/. October 7, 2022. live.
- Web site: M. Night Shyamalan Departs Universal for Warner Bros. First-Look Deal. February 16, 2023. Aaron. Couch. The Hollywood Reporter. June 11, 2024. June 13, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240613052742/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/m-night-shyamalan-departs-universal-for-warner-bros-1235328123/. live.
- Web site: Director M. Night Shyamalan Talks Trap and Working with Josh Hartnett. July 29, 2024. Jami. Philbrick. Moviefone. July 30, 2024. July 29, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240729211907/https://www.moviefone.com/news/trap-exclusive-interview-director-m-night-shyamalan/. live.
- Web site: The Trap: M. Night Shyamalan Talks Empathy Shifts, Catching Josh Hartnett's 'Moment,' Potential Sequels & More [Interview]]. July 31, 2024. Rodrigo. Perez. The Playlist. July 31, 2024. July 31, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240731235823/https://theplaylist.net/the-trap-m-night-shyamalan-talks-empathy-shifts-catching-josh-hartnetts-moment-potential-sequels-more-interview-20240731/. live.
- M. Night Shyamalan Interview: Trap Movie, Reinventing the Thriller, Family Talks, & Fan Interactions. August 1, 2024. YouTube. The Movie Podcast. August 1, 2024.
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- Web site: M. Night Shyamalan and Daughter Ishana Night Tease 'Unease' and 'Suspense' With Dual Thrillers Trap and The Watchers. April 22, 2024. Jenelle. Ray. Variety. June 11, 2024. June 11, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240611052128/https://variety.com/2024/film/directors/m-night-shyamalan-ishana-summer-of-shyamalan-trap-watchers-1235977758/. live.
- Web site: Saleka Explains Her Role as Lady Raven in M. Night Shyamalan's Trap, and Releases First Single. June 7, 2024. Liz Shannon. Miller. Consequence. June 11, 2024. August 3, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240803083803/https://consequence.net/2024/06/trap-saleka-interview-lady-raven-release/. live.
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- Web site: I Talked To M. Night Shyamalan About Setting A Horror Movie At A Pop Singer's Show, And As A Frequent Concertgoer, I'm Intrigued. April 18, 2024. Sarah. El-Mahmoud. CinemaBlend. June 11, 2024. June 11, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240611052128/https://www.cinemablend.com/interviews/m-night-shyamalan-setting-a-horror-movie-pop-singers-show. live.
- Web site: M. Night Shyamalan Explains Why His Trap Trailer Seemingly Gives Away the Film's Twist. April 18, 2024. Drew. Taylor. TheWrap. June 11, 2024. July 31, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240731012545/https://www.thewrap.com/trap-trailer-m-night-shyamalan-interview/. live.
- Web site: M. Night Shyamalan's Daughters Discuss 'Privilege' Of Following Their Own Passions Amid Big Screen Debuts With Dad. June 8, 2024. Glenn. Garner. Deadline Hollywood. June 11, 2024. July 31, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240731013045/https://deadline.com/2024/06/m-night-shyamalan-daughters-privilege-following-own-passions-big-screen-debuts-with-dad-1235963038/. live.
- Web site: Saleka Night Shyamalan Reveals How She Channeled Taylor Swift's 'Boss Woman' Attitude for Trap (Exclusive). July 25, 2024. Angel. Saunders. Kimberlee. Speakman. People. August 6, 2024. August 5, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240805093743/https://people.com/saleka-night-shyamalan-channeled-taylor-swift-for-trap-film-exclusive-8683338. live.
- Web site: Saleka Channeled Rihanna & Rosalía For Her Acting Debut In Trap. August 2, 2024. Kevin. LeBlanc. Nylon. August 6, 2024. August 6, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240806030603/https://www.nylon.com/nylon-nights/saleka-shyamalan-trap-premiere-interview. live.
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- How Trap Has You Rooting For A Killer! Trap Cast Interview! Josh Hartnett, M. Night Shyamalan. August 1, 2024. YouTube. ComicBook.com. August 1, 2024.
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- Josh Hartnett talks 'twisted' new thriller Trap. July 26, 2024. YouTube. Toronto Sun. August 1, 2024. July 31, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240731140106/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNFBMR2IgZ8. live.
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- Josh Hartnett on Becoming Cooper in Trap. July 30, 2024. YouTube. Rotten Tomatoes. August 1, 2024. July 31, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240731134856/https://www.youtube.com/watch?pp=iAQB&v=TLICPQpOeIA. live.
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- Shyamalan . M. Night . M. Night Shyamalan . MNightShyamalan . 1804947464224453008 . June 23, 2024 . Finished editing and mixing #Trapmovie yesterday. Such a joyful experience. . July 30, 2024.
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- Web site: Kid Cudi Lends His Real-Life Star Power To Saleka's Lady Raven Song 'Divine' From The Trap Soundtrack. July 26, 2024. Aaron. Williams. Uproxx. August 8, 2024. August 8, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240808181956/https://uproxx.com/music/kid-cudi-saleka-lady-raven-divine-trap-soundtrack/. live.
- Web site: Warner Bros Pushes Up Release Date For Trap, Dates Four Other Projects. June 13, 2024. Matt. Grobar. Deadline Hollywood. June 14, 2024. June 14, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240614000456/https://deadline.com/2024/06/trap-movie-release-date-pushed-up-warner-bros-1235973103/. live.
- Web site: D'Alessandro . Anthony . M. Night Shyamalan Signs Multi-Year First-Look Deal at Warner Bros, Sets Trap At Studio . . February 16, 2023 . February 17, 2023 . February 17, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230217000407/https://deadline.com/2023/02/m-night-shyamalan-warner-bros-deal-1235262667/ . live .
- Web site: D'Alessandro . Anthony . April 8, 2024 . M. Night Shyamalan's Trap To Spring On New Release Date – CinemaCon . April 8, 2024 . . April 18, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240418212137/https://deadline.com/2024/04/m-night-shyamalan-trap-release-date-1235878469/ . live .
- News: Trap World Premiere at Alice Tully Hall in New York. UPI. July 31, 2024.
- Web site: M. Night Shyamalan Says Daughter Saleka Was Treated 'the Same' on Trap Set as Rest of Cast (Exclusive). July 25, 2024. Kimberlee. Charna. Speakman. Flam. People. July 30, 2024. July 31, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240731013047/https://people.com/m-night-shyamalan-says-daughter-saleka-treated-same-as-rest-of-cast-trap-8682285. live.
- Web site: Trap Featurette Showcases How the Thriller Came to Life Ahead of Home Video Release (Exclusive). Patrick. Cavanaugh. ComicBook.com. August 23, 2024. August 23, 2024. August 23, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240823171039/https://comicbook.com/horror/news/trap-movie-m-night-shyamalan-josh-hartnett-clip-behind-the-scenes/. live.
- Web site: Everything Coming to Max in October 2024. Charlie. Ridgely. ComicBook.com. September 23, 2024.
- Web site: Deadpool & Wolverine To Best Passion Of The Christ As Highest Grossing U.S. R-Rated Movie Ever; Trap To Lock $15M-$20M; Harold And The Purple Crayon Light – Box Office Preview. July 31, 2024. Anthony. D'Alessandro. Deadline Hollywood. July 31, 2024. July 31, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240731222215/https://deadline.com/2024/07/deadpool-wolverine-trap-box-office-preview-1236028101/. live.
- Web site: Box Office: M. Night Shyamalan's Trap Targets $15 Million Debut, Deadpool & Wolverine to Dominate Again. July 31, 2024. Rebecca. Rubin. Variety. July 31, 2024. July 31, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240731141014/https://variety.com/2024/film/box-office/box-office-deadpool-wolverine-trap-opening-weekend-1236090228/. live.
- Web site: Weekend Preview: Deadpool & Wolverine Holds to Top Spot as Trap Battles for Second Place. July 31, 2024. Boxoffice Pro. July 31, 2024. July 31, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240731205521/https://www.boxofficepro.com/weekend-preview-deadpool-wolverine-holds-to-top-spot-as-trap-battles-for-second-place/. live.
- Web site: Domestic Box Office For Aug 2, 2024. Box Office Mojo. August 5, 2024. August 5, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240805025947/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/date/2024-08-02/. live.
- Web site: Deadpool & Wolverine Fierce $97M Second Weekend, Trap Traps $15M+, Harold & The Purple Crayon Erased – Sunday Box Office Update. August 4, 2024. Anthony. D'Alessandro. Deadline Hollywood. August 4, 2024. August 2, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240802161503/https://deadline.com/2024/08/box-office-deadpool-wolverine-second-weekend-trap-1236030041/. live.
- Web site: Domestic 2024 Weekend 31. Box Office Mojo. August 5, 2024. September 6, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240906135321/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2024W31/. live.
- Web site: Domestic 2024 Weekend 32. Box Office Mojo. August 12, 2024. August 13, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240813202003/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2024W32/. live.
- Web site: Domestic 2024 Weekend 33. Box Office Mojo. August 20, 2024. September 6, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240906135425/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2024W33/. live.
- Web site: Domestic 2024 Weekend 34. Box Office Mojo. August 26, 2024. August 25, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240825195058/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2024W34/. live.
- Web site: Campbell . Christopher . August 1, 2024 . Trap First Reviews: Josh Hartnett Powers a Surprisingly Straightforward Thriller . 2024-08-02 . . en-US . August 2, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240802122740/https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/trap-first-reviews-josh-hartnett-powers-a-surprisingly-straightforward-thriller/ . live .
- News: Lee . Benjamin . 2024-08-02 . Trap review – M Night Shyamalan's concert thriller is a mess . 2024-08-03 . . en-GB . 0261-3077 . August 3, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240803090012/https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/aug/02/trap-review-m-night-shyamalan . live .
- Web site: Travers . Peter . Peter Travers . August 2, 2024 . Review: Trap quickly dives off the cliff from disappointment to disaster . 2024-08-03 . . en . August 3, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240803005520/https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/review-trap-m-night-shyamalan-disaster/story?id=112511237 . live .
- Web site: Lawson . Richard . Richard Lawson (writer) . 2024-08-02 . Trap Is a Bad Dad Movie . 2024-08-03 . . en-US . August 2, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240802173020/https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/trap-josh-hartnett-m-night-shyamalan-movie-review . live .
- Web site: Hassenger . Jesse . August 2, 2024 . Josh Hartnett squirms and plots through M. Night Shyamalan's perfectly thrilling Trap . 2024-08-03 . . en-US . August 2, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240802173020/https://www.avclub.com/trap-review . live .
- Web site: Lattanzio . Ryan . 2024-08-02 . Trap Review: Josh Hartnett Is Norman Bates for the Eras Tour Age in M. Night Shyamalan's Silly Cat and Mouse . 2024-08-03 . . en-US . August 2, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240802145522/https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/trap-review-josh-hartnett-m-night-shyamalan-1235031881/ . live .
- Web site: Pearce . Leonard . 2024-11-28 . Cahiers du cinéma’s Top 10 Films of 2024 Includes Misericordia, Evil Does Not Exist, and Trap . 2024-11-28 . en-US.