Cooper Adams (Josh Hartnett) attends Lady Raven’s (Saleka Shyamalan) stadium concert with his teen daughter, Riley (Ariel Donoghue). Noticing the unusually high police presence, Cooper soon learns that the concert is an FBI sting operation to catch a killer. Once alone, Cooper checks a live feed on his phone, showing his latest victim strung up in a basement.

After the critically acclaimed The Sixth Sense (1999), M. Night Shyamalan’s movies have declined in popularity. Once known for his intriguing concepts and building of suspense and terror, Night’s latest outings have been rather goofy, implausible, and befuddling.

Unlike the excellent trailer, Trap is less a thriller and more of a puzzle: how will our charismatic protagonist serial killer escape a stadium surrounded by heavily armed FBI agents? It is a feat that the audience is in the odd position to champion the criminal here, which goes towards Josh Hartnett’s extraordinary talents. Cooper leads two very different lives which start to converge at the concert, a time that was to be completely dedicated to his daughter Riley. Ariel Donoghue does a great job at playing Riley, someone who enjoys spending time with her dad, but is aware when things start to go astray. It is a shame then, when the spotlight shifts from Riley in the third act, where the movie outstays its welcome and comes close to derailing the further it gets away from its solid concept.

Verdict: A fun puzzler, let down by a clumsy third act and weak acting from a key lead. 2.5 stars.

Luke McWilliams, www.themovieclub.net. Viewed at Dendy Cinemas.