This is another movie I watched this past weekend- M. Night Shyamalan’s newest movie is the story of a father, Cooper (played by Josh Hartnett) taking his teen daughter Riley (played by Ariel Donoghue) to a concert. And what I am about to say next is not a spoiler if you’ve seen the trailer, but Cooper is a serial killer, and what he finds out once he arrives at the concert, is that police have sprung a trap. They had information leading them to believe that the serial killer would be at the concert, but they have no idea who he is. So, they have brought a massive presence of cops, surrounded the arena and locked it down. They’re methodically searching for him with the assistance of a FBI profiler, Dr. Grant (played by Hayley Mills- who you may recognize as teacher Ms. Bliss from the old kids show, Saved by the Bell). Meanwhile, Cooper knows he is trapped and is searching for his way out.

Despite the dark theme of the movie, this movie is not graphic, violent nor gory. It’s more of a psychological cat and mouse game. With that said, I chose this movie to watch, because I loved M. Night Shyamalan’s earlier movies, and I had hoped to love this one too. But I think it fell short- as I think some of his more recent movies have. His earlier work, such as “The Sixth Sense”, “Signs”, and even “The Village” were so good with twists that had you going “Whoa!” and rethinking everything you thought you knew about the movie. That was like, the trademark of his earlier movies. This movie doesn’t really have that. Maybe I am being controversial as some of you who may have seen this, may have loved it. But maybe I had high expectations because of his earlier work, so it was quicker to disappoint.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still an entertaining movie to watch, and it keeps you hooked wanting to see what happens next. But I think it left me somewhat unsatisfied when it was over. It’s still watchable- but I am hoping that M. Night Shyamalan will take time to slow down a bit with his next one, and really think the script through, and look for that “Whoa!” moment that will win over people like me. My suggestion is this- if you watch it, maybe lower your expectations a bit, and you will end up loving it more when you watch it!