M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap is yet another misfire in a career defined by diminishing returns.

What starts as a promising concept—a father caught in an FBI sting at a concert—quickly devolves into an incoherent mess that relies on contrived plot devices and cheap gimmicks to hold the audience’s attention.

Josh Hartnett’s performance as Cooper, a doting father and secret serial killer, is the film’s only redeeming quality. He does his best with a script that gives him almost nothing to work with.

But no matter how much nuance Hartnett brings, it’s impossible to save a character whose survival depends on absurd twists and laughable luck. Shyamalan doesn’t trust his audience or his characters enough to let them breathe, opting instead for increasingly ridiculous scenarios that stretch believability to the breaking point.

The film’s setting, a concert by a pop star with godlike status, is squandered by poor execution. The arena, which should be a claustrophobic nightmare, feels hollow and uninspired.

Worse, the casting of Shyamalan’s daughter, Saleka, as the concert’s megastar, feels like nepotism at its worst. Her performance is wooden and lacks the charisma needed to pull off the role, leaving her scenes flat and cringeworthy .

Shyamalan’s signature twist, expected by now, is delivered so early that it barely qualifies as one. Instead, the film limps along, with each new revelation feeling more absurd than the last. By the time the credits roll, you’re left wondering how such an interesting premise could go so wrong .

Ultimately, Trap is a film that’s trapped by its own mediocrity. Hartnett’s effort is wasted in a movie that is more interested in cheap tricks than delivering on the promise of its intriguing setup.

It’s a disposable thriller that will be forgotten as soon as the lights come up.

‘Hold Your Breath’ aims to explore the quiet terror of isolation and madness, but much like the dust storms that sweep through its 1930s Oklahoma setting, it ultimately feels more like a force of nature that never fully materializes.

Directors Karrie Crouse and Will Joines capture the desolate beauty of the Dust Bowl with stunning visuals, but the film often struggles to find its footing as it oscillates between supernatural horror and psychological drama.

Sarah Paulson’s performance is unquestionably the film’s saving grace. As Margaret Bellum, a mother left to fend for her children in a bleak and deteriorating world, Paulson embodies both the quiet resolve and fraying mental state of a woman slowly being undone by grief, fear, and isolation.

Her performance taps into the timeless horror of losing one’s grip on reality, and it’s in these moments where the film feels most grounded, even as dust clouds swirl and strange figures loom .

Unfortunately, Hold Your Breath never fully capitalizes on its potential. The film’s pacing feels sluggish, and its refusal to anchor the viewer in a coherent narrative begins to feel more like a lack of direction than a creative choice.

The tension builds without payoff, and scenes that could have been emotionally devastating or terrifying fall flat as the script veers into predictable jump scares and vague metaphors .

There are moments when the film hints at something deeper — the idea of a mother’s desperation driving her to the brink of madness is fertile ground for horror. Yet these moments are fleeting, buried under layers of ambiguity and a plot that seems unsure of where to go next.

The result is a film that feels simultaneously overstuffed and underdeveloped, a series of haunting images in search of a story to tell .

‘Hold Your Breath’ doesn’t quite manage to hold the audience’s attention. It’s a film with striking moments and a standout lead performance, but much like the dust that permeates its world, it eventually settles, leaving little behind but a faint memory of what could have been.