HBO Max fans shocked over new horror movie starring '90s heartthrob streaming on platform

HBO Max viewers have praised a summer box-office hit starring '90s icon Josh Hartnett that became available to stream last week. 

Hartnett's 2024 horror film 'Trap' made more than $80 million in theaters worldwide after its August 2 release, and Max streamers have been watching it since it dropped on the platform on October 25.

Since then, various X users have not stopped tweeting their opinions over Hartnett's performance and appearance - despite his villainous role.

'I was never into Josh Hartnett in the '90s, but he looks good in this movie Trap,' an X user wrote.

Social media also praised the Pearl Harbor star for bringing his dashing good looks into a so-called 'dad joke dad' role.

Hartnett portrays Cooper Adams - a seemingly picture-perfect father who attends a Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan) concert with his daughter, Riley (Ariel Donoghue).

However, Adams' father of the year persona is a cover-up for his psychopathic alter ego: a serial killer dubbed 'the Butcher.'  

Officers planned an elaborate trap to capture 'the Butcher' once and for all, and Adams' fun night out with his daughter turns into mayhem. 

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, the horror film also stars Allison Pill, Jonathan Langdon and Hayley Mills.

Several X users who remembered watching him in films like 'The Faculty' were shocked to see such a famous heartthrob in the minds of teenagers portray a father.

Others insisted he portrayed a 'good dad', with one X user tweeting, 'Watching Trap, and too early to judge, but Josh Hartnett nailing the dad of teenage daughter vibe.'

Several X users even said they would be forgive Hartnett's character for being a serial killer, simply because the actor went shirtless at one point in the movie.

'Watched "Trap" for the first time today, and some slight *spoilers* but when Josh Hartnett took off his shirt, I immediately forgave him for everything he had done, and I was ready to join him for the next victim. 10/10 movie for him alone,' an X user tweeted.

Another seemingly satisfied X user wrote: 'I agree that Trap(2024) was a goofy and kinda bad movie, HOWEVER Josh Hartnett was hot and shirtless in it, therefore the movie was good.'

'Also as someone who was a teen in the aughts I appreciated the shirtless Josh Hartnett scene,' another X user tweeted. 

'There was no point to it plot wise but appreciated nonetheless.' 

Hartnett was no stranger to horror films before taking on the role of a man who 'goes around chopping people up.' 

However, a part of him was disturbed by the research he conducted to think like 'The Butcher'.

'It was a little bit scary because the research for it was dark... Being able to get into the mindset of this character and look at kind of normal life as a layer of artifice as opposed to like just living within it,' Hartnett told CBR in August.

The actor added he wanted audiences to see his character as the 'worst dude ever,' while watching him have a 'little bit of humanity.'

Trap received mixed reviews from critics and a 58 percent on the Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer.

Multiple critics praised the film, primarily Shyamalan's direction.

'Like Cooper, Shyamalan confidently sees through the vanity,' a critic wrote in August for The New Yorker.

'His vision is a sardonic one, and it feels as if his cinematic smirks conceal rage at the impotence and banality of which ordinary life is made.'

Reviewers weren't afraid to be harsh in their negative reviews, but some of them managed to compliment Hartnett in the process.

One critic from The Hollywood Reporter wrote: 'The film is a concert movie for Shyamalan's daughter, the musician Saleka, wrapped in a middling thriller kept afloat by a compelling performance from Josh Hartnett.'