OK, But Why Is M. Night Shyamalan’s Killer-at-a-Concert Movie Set During the Day?

Jon Blistein
·2 min read
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Don't let this photo of Josh Hartnett at a concert in M. NIght Shayamalan's 'Trap' fool you — it's broad daylight outside. - Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Picture
Don't let this photo of Josh Hartnett at a concert in M. NIght Shayamalan's 'Trap' fool you — it's broad daylight outside. - Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Picture

M. Night Shyamalan, the Titan of the Twist, is set to return this summer with a crazy-looking new thriller called Trap. It’s about a father, played by Josh Hartnett, who takes his daughter to a big pop concert, spots the cops surrounding the arena, and learns they’re laying a “trap” (that’s the name of the movie) to catch a serial killer called “The Butcher,” who’s believed to be in attendance.

Amazingly, that only covers the first 90-odd seconds of the new trailer for Trap, and you know Shyamalan is cooking when he drops a big twist into the middle of a preview clip: Shocker, Hartnett’s lovable dad character sure looks like “The Butcher.” That means this bad boy is gonna have at least one, maybe several more twists, and we hope one of them explains the biggest mystery of all: Why the hell is this concert taking place in the middle of the afternoon?

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Look, if this was about a serial killer running loose at a Wiggles or Raffi concert — or the battle of the bands in School of Rock — we’d get it. But the pop star at the center of Trap, Lady Raven, does not look like she’s out here playing arena matinees. And don’t try some nonsense like, “Oh, well, it’s set in Toronto and maybe it’s late summer, so it’d still be pretty light out at 7:30 in the evening.” No, every exterior shot looks like it’s 2 p.m. on a weekday.

Maybe there’s a perfectly good reason for it. Maybe, I dunno, the Rogers Centre was double-booked and Lady Raven got the short end of the stick; or The Butcher is some kind of anti-Dracula who can only kill during the day (though, technically, The Simpsons already did that); or maybe, at night, the arena makes you old.

Because I’m a Journalist (and because my editor made me), I’ve sent a borderline humiliating email to Shyamalan’s rep to see if the director has any comment on the matter, and for that, I apologize (my editor does not). I have, unsurprisingly, not heard back yet.

Trap is set to hit theaters on Aug. 9. Along with Hartnett, it stars Ariel Donoghue, Hayley Mills, and Allison Pill. Shyamalan’s daughter, Saleka, who’s a musician, is set to play Lady Raven and wrote some original songs for the film, too.

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