In recent years, M. Night Shyamalan has traded big twists for big concepts. Or, he’s found a healthier balance between the two. The director famous for his reveals in movies such as The Sixth Sense and Signs has recently focused his energy on high-concept movies like Old, Knock at the Cabin, and his most recent, Trap. As a director, Shyamalan is about as unpredictable as his third acts and as uneven. Still, his ability to craft worlds for his characters to inhabit has remained impressive throughout his career. The ambition to make Split a secret Unbreakable prequel and then follow that up with a ‘superhero’ crossover movie is something so bold only Shyamalan would have the guts to attempt it.
In Trap, Shyamalan further expanded his cinematic lore with a sneakier Easter egg, a reference to his daughter Ishana’s movie The Watchers, which was released earlier this year. For some directors, it could just be a fun little nod to a family member’s work, but for M. Night Shyamalan, it’s further proof of his sheer influence over modern cinema, even if his track record hasn’t always been good. Shyamalan’s Easter egg in Trap further expands his sphere of influence, not just to his own family but to what his movies have meant and how we interpret twists in movies.
With his daughter following in her father’s footsteps, the Easter egg you probably missed in Trap is the rare example of positive nepotism in an industry full of lesser-talented children. The Watchers was met with poor reception upon its release, but Shyamalan’s recognition shows how he has changed the game of modern cinematic thrills. Why is this Easter egg in Trap so interesting? How does it use the Easter egg novelty to its fullest? How has Shyamalan built his cinematic world? Here’s what you need to know.
A man and his teenage daughter realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event while watching a concert.
- Release Date
- August 2, 2024
- Cast
- Josh Hartnett , Hayley Mills , Marnie McPhail , Vanessa Smythe , Saleka Shyamalan , Malik Jubal , Jonathan Langdon , Peter D’Souza , Ty Pravong , Kaitlyn Dallan
This Trap Easter Egg Demonstrates M. Night Shyamalan’s Skill for Intertextual Cinema
M. Night Shyamalan’s directing technique has established a cinematic language purely his own, one that never deviates even when it maybe should. Shyamalan crafts his movies around a concept, wrapping an unconventional mystery into more recognizable themes of human morality and age. The Trap Easter egg might not utilize Shyamalan’s techniques directly, but it does evolve his interest in self-awareness and manipulating audience expectations. The Easter egg, which can be seen in the trailer itself as a group of SWAT vehicles pass by a billboard for The Watchers, pays tribute to his daughter’s work in a way only Shyamalan could, with a layer of intertextuality that might risk continuity, but who cares?
His movies have ranged from self-serious to campy, and with Trap, Shyamalan embraced the eye-rolling plot conveniences, making the film much more charming. Shyamalan’s flops like The Last Airbender or After Earth were dragged down by their seriousness. The Easter egg, if you were quick enough to notice it, is another Shyamalan eye-roller but in a fun and self-aware way. It feels like the director acknowledging his own story-telling devices, challenging the audience to step out of his world for a brief moment. Shyamalan’s twists rely on an audience being immersed in the world of the movie, so in a strange Shyamalan way, putting this Easter egg in a relatively twistless (compared to his other films) movie like Trap does feel like an odd twist in itself. That leap in logic sounding feasible is proof of his reputation as a master of twists.
M. Night Shyamalan Embraces Silliness in Trap, and It’s All the Better for It
It isn’t easy to strike a balance between high concept and high pay-off. The bigger Shyamalan goes, the harder it will be to retain realism in a series of movies that have embraced fantasy and plot armor to ludicrous degrees. Josh Hartnett may be charming, but the things he gets away with in Trap are so dumb that they’re brilliant. Shyamalan embracing popcorn cinema instead of self-serious stuff better suits his skills, so much so that it doesn’t matter that the Trap Easter egg serves little purpose apart from shouting out his daughter and The Watchers.
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Trap is a silly movie. Knowing that is half the fun; the other half comes from how Shyamalan knows it, too. The idea of the Easter egg is also fundamentally quite silly, and that’s what makes them so fun to spot and discuss. Some of the most iconic Easter eggs, like the Batman vs. Superman logo in I Am Legend, are so fourth-wall-breaking that they would take you out of the movie, which makes them so interesting. Shyamalan’s The Watchers Easter egg thrives on the chaotic energy of the director and shows that he’s having fun just as much as the audience.
The Watchers Easter Egg Is a Positive Example of Hollywood Nepotism
For those who have sat through After Earth, you’ll know Shyamalan is no stranger to eye-rolling nepotism. That movie’s failings have been learned from. Yes, Trap is sort of a covert starring vehicle for his daughter, but within the nonsensical pulpiness of that world, it’s easy to look beyond. That’s what makes Shyamalan a more skilled filmmaker than he gets credit for and what makes this Easter egg so successful. It fits within the context of Shyamalan’s heightened tone. The nepotism that makes sense, like this small example, isn’t the huge shouting match nepotism debates might turn into.
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Movies are pretty self-serious these days, and while there is an audience for them, we don’t have enough directors at the heights of M. Night Shyamalan’s reputation making movies to be silly and entertaining. This isn’t a topic to launch a debate about nepotism in its entirety, but it does show that the versatility of the Easter egg can be stretched to fit even our silliest directors. Maybe that’s where they best belong, with M. Night Shyamalan leaving an Unbreakable reference in his upcoming movie about whatever his next game of Mad Libs suggests. Trap is now streaming on Max.