When you think of M. Night Shyamalan movies, you tend to think of the greats like The Sixth Sense and The Village. His modern output has been a lot more divisive, with 2016's Split being called a return to form but soon being eclipsed by maligned outings like Glass serving as a sequel to Split and then 2021’s Old being panned.
While some think Shyamalan will never return to the greatness of The Sixth Sense, that doesn't stop him from churning out movies. Now, one of his most hated projects has found a new home on Netflix, and with it, a whole new audience to dissect it.
Released in 2024, Trap stars Josh Hartnett as a serial killer who tries to evade the police while attending a music concert with his daughter.
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The critics and audiences were both pretty savage toward Trap, but with it making $82.7 million on a $30 million budget, it was a reasonable horror hit in a year that was dominated by the likes of Alien: Romulus, Longlegs, and The Substance.
Netflix has been delivering some certified bangers like the Stephen Graham-led Adolescence, and while there's been some backlash to the recent price increases, there's still plenty of bang for your buck.
The streaming giant has become an unexpected dumping ground for shows and movies that have faced a barrage of critiques, with it also adding Sony's Kraven the Hunter just months after it disappointed at the box office.
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Similar to how Paramount+'s divisive Halo series soared up the charts when it arrived on Netflix, Trap is doing the same.
Although the blockbuster bomb known as The Electric State is in first place in terms of most-watched movies, Trap has still earned itself a respectable spot in fourth. Plankton: The Movie is in second, with Kraven the Hunter in third, meaning it's not exactly an Oscar-worthy lineup.
Still, Trap's new appreciation shows the power of Netflix and how it's not just a movie's box office run that defines it. In fact, the equally hated Red Notice is Netflix's most-watched movie of all time despite boasting a pitiful 37% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics. Then again, the fact that audiences gave it 92% shows the disparity between so-called experts and casual viewers.
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There's no getting away from the fact that Trap might not be a great movie, with critics awarding it 57% and audiences a slightly better 65%. You might not have heard of Trap before, or you might've seen it from all those viral clips mocking Saleka Shyamalan's acting.
Even if Trap won't be remembered alongside some of Shyamalan's critical darlings, there are undeniably 'worse' movies on Netflix and we can think of worse ways to pass 105 minutes.