Rating: 4.5 Overall, a poorly executed thriller that suffers from being censored by its PG-13 rating as it shallowly treads water without ever going in deep, but "Trap" is so stupidly bad that it's entertaining at times. Direction: Bad The direction on a macroscale is incredibly forced and rushed in the first half, but pretty standard horror thriller world building in the final 40 minutes; the direction on a microscale is very bad as so much of the line delivery is disconnected and the performances just feel so forced; the storytelling is very simple and feels dumbed down; they build tension well as this is the only engaging part of the movie (especially in the final 30 minutes) Story: Bad The concept is interesting, it just isn't executed well; the plot structure is linear and straightforward; character writing is very dry as the movie cannot really provide any depth into the main character because the movie is PG-13 Screenplay: Very Bad The dialogue is atrocious and unnatural; the humor is more unintentionally funny with how bad some of the moments are; the twist is pretty tame and predictable for an M. Night Shyamalan movie but is still entertaining Acting: Bad to Pretty Bad Josh Hartnett: Pretty Bad to Decent (His line delivery and mannerisms in the first feel so off, but I feel this has more to do with bad direction than acting; he picks up his game in the second half of the movie, but by this point it feels a little too late) Ariel Donoghue: Decent (Decent child acting and plays off of Hartnett well) Saleka Night Shyamalan: Pretty Bad (Just feels like a plant in the movie and has a lot of monotonous line delivery) Hayley Mills: Decent Alison Pill: Pretty Bad to Decent (Plays the wife well, but kinda falters a bit when it comes to the climax) Jonathan Langdon: Decent (Decent comedic relief) Rest of the cast: Very Bad (There are just so many inexperienced actors who do not feel connected to the main cast) Score: Pretty Bad Poorly used, the lack of score in some moments makes scenes feel very dry Soundtrack: Decent Fine, but this movie just feels like Shyamalan is trying to show off his daughter Cinematography: Bad to Pretty Bad So many shots in the first half feel way too close to the camera and do not use the screen canvas well at all; some of the shots in the climax are well executed Editing: Bad to Pretty Bad Many of the shots in the first half are not well put together, but the climax had some pretty good cuts Pacing Pacing is incredibly fast; the whole movie just feels like it's at 1.5x speed Climax The climax is decently executed compared to the rest of the movie, but it is still not the best Tone The tone is very thriller (almost feels like it's forced though) Final Notes This movie is really held back by its PG-13 rating because it feels very censored and cannot be a well-written serial killer movie because of it.

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