Warning: Major spoilers for Trap ahead!
Summary
M. Night Shyamalan’s latest thrillerTrapfeatures a unique slow burn premise accented by an entertaining pop soundtrack, and of course includes the twists of Shyamalan’s traditionally serpentine story-telling. The psychological thriller features the resurgent Josh Hartnett as a mild-mannered father who accompanies his daughter to a pop megastar’s concert, unaware that the concert is in fact a trap set up to catch a serial killer in the area.Hartnett’s Cooper is in factTrap’s serial killer, and the bulk of the action that takes place inside the arena features him evading law enforcement in increasingly inventive (and lucky) ways.
Trap, which is now showing in theaters nationwide, abandons the slow burn of the arena closing in around Cooper after roughly an hour. The narrative picks up speed when he reveals his identity to pop idol Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan) and threatens to kill one of his captive victims if she doesn’t assist him in escaping. Through some clever maneuvering by the singer, Cooper, his daughter, and Lady Raven wind up back at his house, where she reveals his true identity to his wife Rachel (Allison Pill) and his children.
Lady Raven manages to stay alive by using the psychological profile given to her by FBI profiler Dr. Josephine Grant (played by the legendary Hayley Mills), and eventually escapes Cooper’s clutches. However, after a series of increasingly convoluted misdirects and escapes, he returns to his home to confront his wife one final time when he realizes she played a role in his capture. The movie ends with Cooper in handcuffs in the back of an FBI transport van, having been captured by Dr. Grant using her knowledge of his past, and a slice of pie filled with sedatives.
Trap’s Post-Credits Scene Explained
M. Night Shyamalan’s movie Trap does not end at the credits, as the movie does have a post-credits scene. Here’s what happens and what it means.
The trap was set at home
As Lady Raven openly discusses the serial killer known as “The Butcher” with Rachel in front of Cooper, she mentions that the reason the police were able to set the trap at her concert is because the killer made a mistake, andleft evidence in the form of a receipt for tickets to her show in the area. However, Cooper’s final confrontation with Rachel proves that was not the whole truth. While it was in fact the ticket receipt that led to the arena trap, it was not discovered due to his own carelessness.
Cooper theorizes, and Rachel confirms, that she had been putting the pieces together about his “other life” as a serial killer. After trailing him to one of his safe houses,Rachel broke in and left the receipt specifically for the police to find. While the arena trap was not her intention, she revealed that she was hoping to put them on his trail, as she had figured out his identity due to the smell of hospital cleaning fluids on his clothes (which she figured he used when taking care of his victims' bodies).
Even in handcuffs, Cooper kept the game alive
As Cooper is being led away in handcuffs, he stops briefly to pick up his daughter’s bike from the front yard. He puts out the kickstand so that the bike will stand up, which is played off as a symptom of his sociopathic OCD and need for control and order. However, he executed some sleight of hand andremoved one of the spokes from the bicycle’s front wheel. He concealed that spoke until he was alone in the back of the FBI transport van, and used it to pick the locks on his handcuffs and set himself free.
Lady Raven’s Plan To Save Spencer In Trap Explained
The film’s double-edged commentary on technology
Trapdoesn’t explode with deep metaphors and themes as some of M. Night Shyamalan’s other movies do. However, there is someslight commentary on the influence of technology (specifically smartphones) on humanity. Cooper is shown using his phone to not only monitor his victim, Spencer, but also as a means to execute him via carbon monoxide poisoning at will. Lady Raven turns that notion on its head by using a smartphone to actually help Spencer escape.
The soundtrack ofTrapas performed by Saleka Shyamalan (as Lady Raven) contains corresponding lyrics and song titles to the narrative; the track list includes tracks like “Liar”, “Hiding”, “Dead End”, and “Pieces.”
Trap’s Saleka Shyamalanchanneled Taylor Swift for her role as Lady Raven, and part of the celebrity that carried over was a massive social media following. Lady Raven goes live on her social media account to tap into the collective vision of her massive fan base; after getting details from Spencer on where he is being kept,she sets her fans to the task of finding where the house is. She succeeds, as it takes only a few moments for a fan to recognize what she’s describing and get to Spencer before Cooper can kill him.
The dichotomy of how the smartphones were usedis an interesting bit of meta commentary on our own use of the tools. While Cooper uses his to hurt an individual, Lady Raven is able to use it to pool resources together and reach a massive amount of people to accomplish something good. That’s the conundrum that humanity faces every day in the context of our ever-expanding dependency on smartphones and social media.
One of Cooper’s own weapons was used against him
Rachel was able to poison Cooper after finding his serial killer emergency Go Bag, which he left in her car while intending to kidnap Lady Raven (and presumably kill her). In that bag,she found a jar of white powder, which can be assumed to be Rohypnol (roofies) or something chemically similarbased on the effect it has on Cooper. In a twist of irony, it was one of Cooper’s own serial killer tactics that was used against him, only made possible because, in his increasing desperation, he made a mistake and left the bag where Rachel could find it.
Did Cooper Kill His Mom Before Trap?
She was a big part of his childhood trauma
While it’s never explicitly stated that Cooper killed his mother prior to the events ofTrap,it does seem plausible given the fact that he still hallucinates seeing her wherever he goes. The basis of his serial killer sociopathy can be traced back to childhood trauma, and the punishment he received as a young boy. That trauma is apparently well-established enough that Dr. Grant is aware of it, and even passes the word along to Lady Raven, who attempts to use it to rattle Cooper when he has her locked in Rachel’s car.
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In this sense, his relationship with his mother conjures Norman Bates vibes, andit seems likely that he killed his mother in the past. It could even be what started him on the path to being a serial killer, as he mentioned more than once the comfort and peace he gets from killing. As he experiences the effects of the poison in his pie, he hallucinates his mother one final time, and it’s revealed to be Dr. Grant (in reality) standing in her place, manipulating him as if she was his mother.
How Trap’s Ending Sets Up A Sequel
The cat-and-mouse game continues
Trapends with Cooper in the back of the FBI transport van, but with his hands free of the handcuffs he was placed in and laughing. At no point in the narrative did he ever run out of options thanks in part to his planning and preparation, lightning-quick thinking, and not a small amount of luck. There was always a way out for him, he simply had to find it.It’s heavily implied that he will escape from the transport van, and once again be set loose to potentially kill more people.
A movie poster forThe Watchers, the 2024 supernatural horror film from Ishana Night Shyamalan, can be seen outside the arena.
Trapestablishes a cat-and-mouse dynamic between Dr. Grant and Cooper, which could certainly be continued in a sequel. Cooper could establish himself in a new location (perhaps with a time jump) and continue to kill, putting Dr. Grant on his trail once more. A sequel could also cover his pursuit of Rachel, as in his final confrontation with her he explicitly spelled out the rage he felt towards her; thanks to his sociopathy and obsessive tendencies, he could refocus his desire to kill on Rachel.
The Real Meaning Of Trap’s Ending
An examination of appearances vs. reality and projecting trauma
Again,Trapis not rife with profound metaphors, butthere is a legitimate examination of the appearances that people project to hide their true self. The most obvious example is Cooper pretending to be a devoted father and husband while maintaining an entirely separate life as a vicious serial killer. While for most people the distinction isn’t that drastic, it’s rare that a person is their true self in front of the entire world, especially with the advent of social media and smartphones. People manufacture an image of what they’d like others to see.
To Cooper, “everyone’s in pieces”, and his dismemberment of good people is him projecting his own brokenness onto others.
The other side of that coin is howa person’s experience shapes how they interact with others. Oftentimes, trauma can be projected onto others, just as Cooper does with his victims. He specifically mentions that he targets people “who think they’re whole”, because in his eyes, nobody is truly whole. To him, “everyone’s in pieces”, and his dismemberment of seemingly good people (a teacher with a family, a young student interested in sustainable agriculture, etc.) is him projecting his own brokenness onto others.Trap’s ending leaves the door open to explore that concept further.
Trap
Cast
Trap is a film by writer-director M. Night Shyamalan under his Blinding Edge Pictures label. The film is part of a deal struck with Warner Bros for him to direct and produce several films under their banner.
