M. Night Shyamalan’s Most Polarizing Thriller Is Catching Fire on HBO Max

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Josh Hartnett and Ariel Donoghue stand in the pit of a concert in Trap

Published Feb 5, 2026, 5:26 PM EST

Britta DeVore is a Senior Author for Collider who has been known to dabble with Reality News as well.

Have you seen stories about 'Chucky,' 'Scream,' 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' 'The Boys,' 'Vanderpump Rules,' or any of 'The Real Housewives' franchises? That's probably a Britta DeVore-curated piece of art, and it sounds like you have great taste.

When she isn't sitting behind her laptop bringing readers her hot takes on upcoming projects or keeping the dream alive in the Senior News team, Britta can usually be found outside hiking or inside behind her drum set. She currently plays in two bands, Kid Midnight and Watergate, both based in Brooklyn. An obsessive traveler, Britta loves long road trips to the South West and has a soft spot in her heart for canyons, rivers, and forests.

She also has a tiny cat named Athena that she loves more than anything else in the world and is always happy for new brewery recs.

More than two decades ago, M. Night Shyamalan raised the ceiling on psychological thrillers when he released The Sixth Sense. Starring Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, and Haley Joel Osment, the movie was an immediate financial success, only made better by becoming an award season favorite. The production made the filmmaker’s name synonymous with jaw-dropping twists and turns that are hard to catch as an audience member. In the years since, he’s continued to deliver the same shock value in titles like Signs, The Village, and Split, but ran into a few bumps along the way thanks to the release of largely panned projects such as Glass, Old, and Knock at the Cabin.

In 2024, Shyamalan flipped his typical formula on its head and gave away the twist in the very first previews when the trailers for Trap arrived. Starring Josh Hartnett, the film follows Cooper (Hartnett), a father who is trying to give his daughter her dream day out by taking her to see pop superstar Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan). Upon his arrival at the venue, Cooper discovers that the entire show is actually a trap to catch a serial killer known as the Butcher. The twist? Cooper is the Butcher and soon finds himself attempting to outwit the multitudes of law enforcement keeping him locked in the concert hall, all while keeping up appearances as a caring and dutiful father to his child.

With an eerie setting and numerous close calls for Cooper, Trap cranks up the tension and keeps it rolling until the very end. Sadly, audiences were rather torn about the movie, marking yet another miss for Shyamalan in his recent catalogue of work. Now, according to FlixPatrol, nearly two years after the movie premiered in cinemas, Trap is finally gaining steam and status on Netflix’s global top 10 chart, where it’s fighting to hold onto the tenth position.

What Is Next for ‘Trap’s Leading Man?

Whether you love or hate Trap, there’s one thing that everyone can agree on — Hartnett absolutely killed it (no pun intended) in his role as a faithful father and sadistic slasher. The movie was one of the actor’s big returning roles to Hollywood after he stepped away for several years. His comeback also recently included a high-octane and charismatic performance in James Madigan’s Fight or Flight. Next, the Halloween H20: 20 Years Later breakout star will trade the action for psychological games when he appears in Michael Showalter’s adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s Verity. Slated for a release on October 2, the movie also features performances from Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson.