- Monday, March 10, 2025
Shyamalan, who first gained acclaim with “The Sixth Sense” in 1999, has faced both critical success and failure in his career
By: India Weekly
ASIAN-AMERICAN filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan, known for his suspenseful storytelling and twist endings, has introduced his latest film, “Trap”, which debuted in India last week.
The film stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donaughue, and Shyamalan’s daughter, Saleka.
In an interview with PTI, Shyamalan discussed his approach to storytelling, emphasising that he believes people are eager for new ideas.
“It is a belief, maybe a naive one, that people are excited to feel something new if we can get to them… I tell my partners, Warner Bros, the thing that’s different about the movie is the thing to celebrate about it. Double down on how weird and different it is,” he said.
“Trap” features Hartnett as Cooper Adams, a father who is secretly a feared serial killer known as ‘The Butcher’. Donaughue plays his teenage daughter, Riley. Shyamalan noted that in the current Hollywood landscape dominated by franchises and superhero films, creating something original requires emphasising its uniqueness.
“The other aspect is that you need to sell the bizarreness of the new idea and really tell them why this is a new tone. I have an accent in the way I tell stories. Make sure I have that accent. I used to have conversations with the trailer makers. And I would say ‘Don’t cut it like it’s everyone’s movie’. You’re stealing the thing that’s unique about it. And that’s our weapon,” he added.
Shyamalan, who first gained acclaim with “The Sixth Sense” in 1999, has faced both critical success and failure throughout his career. After a period of poorly received films, he revitalised his career with “The Visit” in 2015 by independently financing the project.
Reflecting on his career, Shyamalan acknowledged that his approach, which he does not necessarily recommend to others, provided him with renewed creative freedom.
His more recent works include “Split”, “Glass”, “Old”, and “Knock at the Cabin”. In “Trap”, he collaborates with Saleka, who plays a character named Lady Raven, inspired by contemporary music stars.
Regarding the film’s musical elements, Shyamalan mentioned a personal connection to Indian culture and expressed interest in exploring Bollywood-like projects if he were more fluent in Indian languages.
Shyamalan also revealed the origins of his name change, explaining that he chose “Night” when he was 17 to fit a scholarship requirement.
Initially inspired by Native American culture, he later found that the name suited his thriller genre work. “It felt like a moment of ‘Hey, this is your second version of yourself’,” he said.
