M. Night Shyamalan-directed psychological thriller Trap is out on OTT but is available only on rent. Prime Video rents the film for Rs. 499. The filmmaker wrote and co-produced the 2024 psychological thriller. It stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Night Shyamalan, Hayley Mills, and Alison Pill and centres on a serial killer who, while attending a concert with his daughter, manages to escape a police barricade. Critics gave Trap varying reviews, and it has made $80 million worldwide.

Trap cast and characters

Josh Hartnett portrays Cooper, a firefighter who doubles as a covert serial killer known as "the Butcher." Ariel Donoghue plays Riley, Cooper's daughter and a fan of Lady Raven, while Saleka Night Shyamalan plays Lady Raven, a well-known vocalist.

Film's concept and inspirations

Conversations between Shyamalan and his daughter, singer-songwriter Saleka, about fusing theatrical and concert experiences and creating an album for a story—similar to how Prince wrote the album of the same name for the 1984 musical film Purple Rain—sparked the idea for the movie. After learning he could create the movie with Saleka, Shyamalan changed his mind about his original idea for a thriller set at a concert. Originally, he had intended to let another director write the story and direct the film. 

Part of the plot drew inspiration from Operation Flagship, a 1985 sting operation in which masked law enforcement apprehended 101 wanted fugitives at a convention centre under the guise of offering them free NFL tickets and the chance to win an all-expense-paid trip to Super Bowl XX. Shyamalan suggested setting The Silence of the Lambs (1991) during a concert in response to Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. He then wrote the screenplay in a personal record of five and a half months. He, along with Marc Bienstock and Ashwin Rajan, produced the film.

Music's role in the film

Saleka plays Lady Raven at her concert, which the characters attend. She wrote 14 songs for the movie, each meticulously crafted to correspond with the events on screen while her father was writing the screenplay. Saleka and her father have previously worked together on an EP for the television series Servant and a single for the movie Old (2021). Purple Rain and touring Saleka served as inspiration for Shyamalan's use of music. Saleka also mentioned Adele, Billie Eilish, Rihanna, Rosalía, and Taylor Swift as influences for her performance. Bollywood films are known for their use of music as a storytelling device. She defined 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.

Similar to his recent self-financed endeavors, Shyamalan extensively rehearsed the actors and storyboarded the movie with the assistance of a storyboard artist. After talking with cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Shyamalan decided that framing the movie in a 4:3 aspect ratio would have hampered their capacity to shoot the film and would have been "too much work" to evoke a sense of claustrophobia. 

Josh Hartnett's role preparation

Josh Hartnett studied psychopathy, reading literature about serial killers, and abstaining from media in the lead up to the performance to create the unique role of "Cooper." Shyamalan crafted Hayley Mills's investigator role as a "maternal figure" to contrast with Cooper's callousness.

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