The Ending Of M. Night Shyamalan's Trap Explained

Contains spoilers for "Trap"

Depending on who you ask, M. Night Shyamalan is either one of the best or messiest filmmakers we have working today. There was certainly a period of time where it seemed as though his days of making hit films like "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable" were long behind him: The less said about the live-action "The Last Airbender," the better. However, starting with 2015's "The Visit," he's had both a hot streak and a largely solid return to form. "Trap" is his latest work, and as tends to be the case with many of Shyamalan's movies, there's a bit to unpack with its ending.

Some may have been surprised that the trailer already seemingly gave the big twist away, a hallmark of most of Shyamalan's films. The trailers showed how the movie would focus on something that happens in most of Shyamalan's movies: a family dynamic in which loving father Cooper (Josh Hartnett) takes his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to a concert by pop icon Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan), a star on the level of someone like Taylor Swift or Billie Eilish. But there are more horrifying things happening than not getting enough friendship bracelets, as it's revealed that the concert is set up as a trap to catch a prolific serial killer known as The Butcher — who just so happens to be Cooper himself. 

So how does "Trap" end? Does Cooper make a daring escape, or is he brought to justice? Here's everything you should know regarding the ending of "Trap."

A serial killer trapped at a massive concert venue is a fantastic premise, and M. Night Shyamalan gets a lot of mileage out of continually finding ways to frustrate our murderous protagonist — as noted in Looper's review of "Trap," which called the movie "unhinged," yet also "uneven." After Cooper learns why all the police are there, he starts plotting his escape. His only option is to get backstage and leave that way, which he manages to do by convincing Lady Raven's uncle, played by Shyamalan himself in what's become an essential tradition, to bring his daughter onstage for one of the songs. However, he's not safe even backstage, and that's when Cooper pulls one hell of a Hail Mary.

Cooper reveals to Lady Raven that he's the serial killer that the FBI is after, effectively blackmailing her into giving them a ride out of the venue or else he'll kill the victim he has chained up at one of his safe houses. Lady Raven goes along with it before turning the tables, resulting in a game of cat and mouse between murderer and pop star. Lady Raven manages to get hold of Cooper's phone, alerting both her legions of fans and the authorities about the man he's got locked up. 

Unfortunately, the slippery Cooper manages to evade capture from inside his home and takes Lady Raven for a joy ride before they get stopped by her fans while riding in her limo. No one seems to notice Cooper slipping out of the vehicle, and he gets away for a chance to make one final emotion-tinged speech.

With no other moves left, Cooper returns home to confront his wife, Rachel (Alison Pill). It turns out that she caught onto the fact that something wasn't quite right with her husband and left a torn piece of the concert ticket receipt at one of his crime scenes, revealing how the police managed to know he would be at Lady Raven's show. Cooper makes it clear he's about to kill her, even removing his shirt as to seemingly not get any blood on it. She serves him pie laced with something to knock him out, but before it fully takes effect, he sees a vision of his mother, a recurring motif throughout the film, hinting at traumatic experiences from earlier in his life that caused him to turn out the way he did. 

As he approaches the hallucination, he's tased by the authorities and apprehended. Before he's taken away, he adjusts a bicycle and shares one last hug with his daughter, whose day has surely taken a turn after living out a dream of dancing with Lady Raven on stage. Cooper is led away, but not before revealing that he's shoved a spoke from the bike up his sleeve. How does nobody notice him taking it? Along with him also getting out of the limo without anyone seeing, Cooper may not necessarily be a great serial killer but is an exceptionally lucky one. 

"Trap" ends with Cooper undoing his handcuffs and laughing maniacally. The Butcher may yet again be on the loose as the credits begin to roll. 

Before Cooper returns home, Rachel has a quick chat with FBI profiler Dr. Grant (Hayley Mills). She wants to understand her husband's psyche, so Dr. Grant explains that serial killers often know how to blend in with the mundanity of life, with their true nature only really being known by a parent. In this instance, Cooper's mother likely understood his true nature, as he constantly hallucinates her a couple of times at the concert venue and finally within his own home. 

Speaking with JoBlo, M. Night Shyamalan explained the casting of Mills — who, it should be noted, starred as a child in Disney's "The Parent Trap" — and what Dr. Grant represents. "Who's [Cooper's] adversary?" Shyamalan said. "Who's trying to catch him? And rather than it being one guy chasing another guy, I thought, 'Well, what if it was a maternal figure that was an expert about these guys?'" Dr. Grant certainly knows a lot about men like Cooper, but it's important to note that he's ultimately brought down by a trifecta of matriarchal sensibilities.

Dr. Grant may lead the FBI charge, but Lady Raven manages to outwit him and get his phone to save a would-be victim. Plus Rachel convinces him to have a slice of pie before he takes her life and his own. Rachel even points out that she baked the pie in honor of their daughter, further playing into this idea of maternity that gets Cooper's guard down. 

One can almost rank the quality of M. Night Shyamalan's movies by their twists. Ever since "The Sixth Sense" concluded with the reveal that Bruce Willis' character is dead the whole time, people have come to expect a reveal that completely alters one's perception of the rest of the story. But perhaps the greatest twist of all is that in "Trap" audiences probably know what's coming ahead of time. 

Unless someone walks into "Trap" without seeing a single piece of marketing, they would likely know ahead of time that Cooper is the serial killer all along. But revealing the big twist in the trailers and early on in the movie also gives the film a certain amount of freedom. Shyamalan spoke with SlashFilm about delivering a different kind of twist, saying, "You're watching it from the point of view of someone unexpected, is really what the movie's telling you ... what's unconsciously happening is, you're identifying with him as you're finding out the premise of the movie. So that's actually the funky twist of it, is not the information, that he's in a trap or that he's the killer — it's that you are the killer."

As a result, the twist isn't necessarily something the viewer sees from a distance, like Bruce Willis being dead. It's something far more internal and possibly more nefarious, as the film works to make the audience empathize with a killer and perhaps even root for him to evade the trap. 

Speaking of fan theories, a lot of folks were convinced there would be something larger at play by the ending of "Trap." After all, Cooper is revealed to be the killer in the trailer, so M. Night Shyamalan must have had something else up his sleeve to surprise us all, right? 

It turns out to be a fairly straightforward thriller, but that didn't stop all sorts of speculation from materializing online. Redditor u/Transition-Select theorized a month before the film's release: "There's another serial killer at the concert that the police are tracking down. Josh Hartnett ends up attracting attention to himself and gets arrested, only for him and the police to realize they got the wrong killer." Plenty of folks thought Cooper's daughter, Riley, would actually be the serial killer, with her father wanting to protect her. 

Redditor u/Medical-Somewhere-99 hypothesized how "Trap" could secretly tie into "The Sixth Sense." "I say Cole [Haley Joel Osment's character from 'Sixth Sense'] IS the Butcher (now played by Josh Hartnett)," they wrote. "Cole has been helping police solve cold cases for 25 years now, but in some cases even though Cole knows who the killer is, it might not be possible to convict them ... so he decides to take matters into his own hands and kills the killers." That would have been one wild movie, and a legacy sequel to "The Sixth Sense" wouldn't be out of the question, considering how many films are getting follow-ups now decades after their release. But none of these came to pass. 

Audiences expect a superhero movie like "Deadpool and Wolverine" to have an mid- or post-credits scene, but something like "Trap" is a bit more up in the air. Still, you don't want to get out of your seat right away once the movie ends: Partway through the credits, there's an additional scene that doesn't offer much in the way of what might be next for The Butcher but is fun nonetheless. 

The scene shows the merch vendor, Jamie (Jonathan Langdon), at home watching a news report about how The Butcher was just apprehended. His excitement quickly transitions into horror as he realizes that his concert buddy Cooper has been the serial killer all along, and he freaks out (as he should). He asserts how he's never going to talk to anyone at work ever again, and the credits resume. 

The mid-credits scene of "Trap" doesn't even feel out of place, as the movie consistently utilizes dark humor — for example, Cooper acting like a goofy dad after viewers know he's a murderer leads to some hilarious dramatic irony. 

As a standalone feature, "Trap" doesn't necessarily tie into any other projects, but the ending certainly leaves the door open for another installment. Cooper undoes his handcuffs, so it's not out of the question for him to escape from the authorities once he can open the back of that van. The Butcher could wreak havoc once again, and that would be just fine by Josh Hartnett. 

Speaking with The Playlist about the prospect of "Trap 2," the actor said, "I mean, yeah, I think I would love to work with Night again. I loved the experience, and I hope we work together again on something, whether it's a sequel to this or something else." Hartnett's performance is certainly a highlight of "Trap," as he perfectly understands how the character functions in this uniquely Shyamalan-esque world, ricocheting back and forth between doting father and malicious killer. Honestly, we just want to see Hartnett in more films in general.

Has "Trap" ended up becoming one of those movies that blows everyone away in 2024? Some people will inevitably love this twisted caper, which could function as Shyamalan reflecting on how to keep his professional and familial lives separate. Others may be turned off by all of the usual Shyamalan-isms. But one thing is clear — Josh Hartnett is and always has been a star, and we're glad to see him in movies again.