Plot
Loving father Cooper attends a pop concert with his daughter Riley, to her idol – Lady Raven.
When a strong police presence surrounds the concert, Cooper discovers that the concert is a ruse to trap the city’s serial killer known as The Butcher.
Cooper, who is The Butcher, now must find a way to escape the maze of the venue hall, all the while maintaining his ‘normal dad’ persona to his daughter.
Direction
The film is directed by M Night Shyamalan (who I still have a few in his backlog to catch up on!).
Some of his usual trademarks are on point here, such as framing characters in a shot (almost similar to Jonathan Demme – with the character looking directly into the camera).
I also really like how moves the camera to show information that the character themselves are working out… like panning over to the many police etc.
A new trademark he has used here is framing half the face (usuallly Cooper – with close up shorts) in the shot and having ‘information’ in the background.
One ‘down’ I felt that it doesn’t have the ‘character’ feel to it as his others do. It feels too ‘modern’, and all of his other films have an almost “nostalgia” vibe to it, that this one was just… missing?
Cast
Josh Hartnett plays Cooper. Hartnett has such a presence about him that you love the charm that he brings to the table as Cooper. He is suave, he’s charming – and then on a dime – he flips the switch to play the menacing Butcher – you almost forget he’s playing a serial killer that has killed dozens of people.
Ariel Donoghue plays Riley, Cooper’s daughter – who like Hartnett is in almost every scene. She is solid – and brings a great performance – especially in the back half of the film when she discovers what her father is.
Saleka Night (Shyamalan) – plays Lady Raven… who’s concert the family attend. I admit, there are pros and cons to her casting. Clearly this is a nepotism casting… but… she delivers a solid performance, both in the musical moments, and then in the dramatic back half. I found her talent to be be justified in her casting.
Hayley Mills plays an FBI psychologist who assists them in bringing down The Butcher. I found this to be an obligitory casting – as she gets only a little to do. This felt similar to Betty Buckley in ‘The Happening’ (which I have to reluctantly rewatch one day and review).
Alison Pill, who doesn’t show up until the back end too, plays Cooper’s wife. Even though she has about 30 minutes of screen time, you really feel what she is going through.
breakdown
This film has two distinctive “parts” and “feels” to it. The first, is the concert in which Cooper and Riley attend. Unfortunately this is the worst part of the film, as it primarily feels like it is an advert for Saleka Night – who just happens to be M Night Shyamalan’s daughter. No nepo casting there????
There is also some truly horrendous dialogue, that feels completely inauthentic – and would never happen… like the character of Jamie who just happens to blurt out the intention behind the ruse (everyone who works at the stadium is in on it too???) that they are there to help capture a serial killer.
The reveal that Cooper is in fact The Butcher happens early – and this gives the audience a well written conflicted feeling. You want to like Cooper because he is seemingly charming (helped by the performance of Hartnett), and is clearly a loving father (he is very opposed to Riley hanging out with some of the girls who have been bullying her, and has a few harsh words with their mother).
He even assists her (even if it is by lying) to be the one to win a back stage pass to meet Lady Raven! Just lucky Lady Raven’s uncle (the standard MNS cameo) is standing only a few feet away from them in the audience…
You can’t even skip all these songs sung by Lady Raven/Saleka Night either as throughout most of them, it has Cooper’s investigating the situation around him, and how he can escape!
The second half of the film, in which Cooper reveals himself to Lady Raven as The Butcher, in order to escape – is more impressive – and credit where it is due, shows that Miss Night is a solid actress – as the “too and fro” between her and Cooper is solid.
This should have been extended, and the concert shortened, as it tries to add too much into the back half – such as Mills’ Dr’s discussion of a serial killer’s childhood (and how parents would be the first to witness) – this is also why Cooper keeps seeing the ghost of his mother. The revelation that it was actually Cooper’s wife who set in motion the events to try to bring The Butcher down – should have been extended, as this could have given us a longer performance from the great Alison Pill.
Overall
A couple of stumbling blocks, (especially in the first half) and at times it felt more like a way to help sell the records for Shyamalan’s daughter. But since she is a solid performer, this reviewer is going to let it slide.
Some underused performers who feel like they were cast to help out, and some that should have been used more, could have made this better, especially in the second half of the film!
Definitely not his best work, but its far from bad.
3.5/5
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