5 Reasons Why M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap is Important by Gretchen Jackson

1.     It’s an original concept, not intellectual property

2.     There’s no big studio attached to it

3.     It’s not politically correct

4.     It’s original

5.     It’s written and directed by the same person

This weekend, my sixteen-year-old son and I saw the new M. Night Shyamalan film, “Trap”. (In the theater – thank God, not streaming.) We were both really looking forward to it, being native Philadelphians like Shyamalan and fans of the suspense-filled films that are his trademark.

Despite the lukewarm-to-downright bad reviews we read before venturing to the theater, we loved the movie! The drive home was filled with speculation, like “Why did this happen?” and “How do you think this character did this?” Fun stuff.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized how important the movie Trap is for us right now. After the superhero-movie implosion, films have become less about art and more about profit. I get it. Films are incredibly expensive to make, and studios have to make money to justify laying their money out in the first place. And they have to ensure they’re going to make money. Enter the world of Intellectual Property, premade characters and stories that already have a devoted following.

Exit the world of fresh new ideas, tho.

Until now. Trap is an actual contender at the box office and there’s no big studio attached to it. Lately, independent films have fallen by the wayside, underperforming at the theater if they even make it there. Most are relegated to streaming. In addition to being a box office presence, Trap is also an independent film. An incredibly rare thing in this day and age.

Another refreshing turn: Trap isn’t politically correct. The bad guy is the protagonist for a large part of this film. Movies aren’t real life. They should be allowed to take chances and try new perspectives without being skewered online and deemed disrespectful. We need art to remind us to take life less seriously and actually think about things rather than being spoon-fed answers by out-of-touch political agendas.

And finally, Trap is an original idea. It hasn’t been done before. It’s not overtly derivative. It’s not a re-telling or a part two (or three or four) of an already produced film. It was written and directed by Shyamalan, which tells me it’s close to the intended concept and not twisted to fit some studio’s idea of what the story should be to make it more marketable.

So, no rating, no stars, no percentage of audience or critics who liked it or disliked it. Just a brief recommendation based on positive vibes. Trap might not be your cup of tea, but we should all appreciate that it’s there. Here’s hoping there will be more independent films out there now. The writer’s strike is a year or more behind us. We’ll pray AI doesn’t deform independent thought too much going forward. And keep our fingers crossed that young, new filmmakers out there see Trap and say, “Hey I can do that!”

Go to it, young filmmakers!