This is one movie you CAN’T escape from.

The advertising campaign for Trap was perhaps the only thing that got me into the theatre, and let me tell you, it must have been just as convincing for others as it was for me. M. Night Shyamalan’s latest thriller about a serial killer cornered by the cops at a concert is criminally overhyped. While the cast perform admirably, including debuting singer-songwriter Saleka Night Shyamalan (the director’s own daughter), this thriller loses its edge too quickly and becomes a question of, “Er, why is it not over yet?”

In short, this film starts as most of Shyamalan’s movies do—with a lot of promise and a great setup. Unfortunately, as has become usual with the Split director, the midpoint and the finale fail to follow through on what could have been one of the year’s best films by far.

The story follows Cooper (Josh Hartnett), a firefighter and secret serial killer known as “The Butcher,” who takes his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to see her favourite artist Lady Raven after she gets good grades at school. Unfortunately for Cooper, Lady Raven isn’t the only act people are hoping to catch at this event.

It is quickly revealed (as it was spoiled in the marketing) that the whole performance is a trap, with police having locked down the concert and searching the area for Cooper. With limited time and resources, this homicidal father must navigate every father’s worst nightmare—being stuck at a music hall full of screaming girls fawning over a young performer he doesn’t know. Oh, and not getting caught or put in prison.

Quite frankly, the first hour of the movie, which was heavily spoiled by the trailers, is actually really good. The tension is high, the music is enjoyable, and Hartnett’s performance is stellar as he walks the line between loving father and psychotic serial killer.

Sadly, it becomes clear that beyond this first act, the story has very little going for it. The build-up fizzles out too fast and, while the performances of the entire cast remain phenomenal, the writing deteriorates to the point where I started to wonder if Shyamalan let a ten-year-old finish the script.

What begins as a well-written, if slightly logic-stretching, tension-filled dark-comedy-thriller turns into a lesson in how to ruin your movie in 30 minutes. The ending, while somewhat expected, feels underserved. The twists and the behaviours of the side characters feel stretched beyond the point of reason.

It’s a shame, as I really wanted to enjoy this film despite all the negativity I’d heard. It seems as though the moment the concert sequence ends—in essence, the moment the director’s daughter is no longer performing her original hits crafted for this film—the interest is lost.

It feels almost as though Shyamalan wrote the most compelling parts of the film where his daughter was on stage performing and then lost all interest when it came to providing an adequate conclusion to the film he’d built around it. Perhaps this was simply a case of nepotism at work, the famously problematic (for his films) director crafting a script that put his daughter in the spotlight. If so, shame on him. More so, shame that this film has put this impression in my head, as his daughter gives quite a good acting performance. Not award-winning, but convincing enough to keep me engaged through the dreadfully written final act.

It’s a shame this film crashes, as for the most part, I enjoyed the ride. I enjoyed the actors, I enjoyed the songs—I just think it could have been better. While it’s far from the worst Shyamalan has put out, this film promises more than it can deliver, lacking the ability to follow through on a potentially great story that is begging to be told. And while it’s not a total waste of time, it absolutely deserved a better ending.

5 out of 10.