In the Trap (2019) User Reviews

It is a mess

[mjsreg · 4/10 · 17 April 2020]

Where to start.

The casting is wrong. The lead character is like a pathetic needy hipster with a squeaky voice who you just want to tell to stop being SO pathetic. Pathetic to the point of being annoying. It is hard to have any emotional engagement with a character like this. I am not criticising the actor, but he was the wrong choice for this part.

The sound was annoying. The 'dramatic' music totally consuming whatever mood there was - it was too much too often.

The visuals were pretty much mundane throughout. There was the occasional attempt to do something that remotely resembles 'artistic' - but it failed miserably. I felt as though the film was shot from one perspective (shoulder height) and little thought given to shots which would have provided more drama.

The story was all over the place with little justification for moving from one scene to the next in many parts.

Overall I would give this one a miss.

Accept Your True Nature!!!!!

[wandernn1-81-683274 · 3/10 · 22 September 2020]

So on a Rainy night in Devon England, of which there are plenty of those, we find a kid running from something in his own house apparently. Running to his bed he sees something under his sheets and he calls for MOMMY. MOMMY comes running and looks under his sheets and sees nothing. But as soon as mommy leaves, there is something under his sheets!!! HE YELLS FOR MOMMY ! MOMMY COMES again, but the creature or whatever it is grabs his sister and drags his sister to her room where i guess she dies. Because when the boy goes in there his mother is crying over his sister's body.

Okay that was pretty dumb but okay, we'll go with it.

Mother and Boy still go on together, grieving over the sister's loss.

Okay what we get here is a fairly standard possession / exorcism story. Ahh okay so this guy Philip it was his sister that got killed in the beginning. And he meets this girl Sonja and he goes back over his whole life story with her??? Weird.

-1 Star for going over your whole life story with some other girl with a new girl you're trying to hit on....

Oh that was the exorcism that failed. Okay I'm almost paying attention now. OOO Sonja invites Philip to sleep at her place. He refused??? What a moron. Oh but wait there's something weird about Sonja here. Suddenly she's got a case of demon voice. Then he's like in some dreamlike landscape.

Oh Okay so Philip killed Sonja with the knife he used to cut the CHEESECAKE.

Oh boy then the cheesey demon voice telling Philip to kill the Priest who has come to save him.

-1 Star for cheesey demon voice....

But never underestimate the raw power of a cheesecake knife. Oh and Philip gives the Priest the jailhouse shank treatment with that knife . And the blood FLOWS!!! IT FLOWS!!! tHEN WE GET FLashbacks of the varioous people that Philip has killed. It all comes back to him now.

So wait, then he's like exorcising.... his old girlfriend again? And the priest is alive? So did he travel through time or something? Is Sonja alive??? Did Sonja even ever exist?? There sure is a lot of cheery upbeat music the last like 30 minutes which is just tremendously annoying really.

And at the end he bumps into a new woman in the hallway of his apt building and she introduces herself as Sonja. So was he having visions of things that didn't happen yet?

Okay this movie...was pretty bad. 3/10

COMPLETELY LOST (Like me after watching)

[giannicalcinai · 4/10 · 27 April 2020]

It is a well-made film, intriguing from the beginning but which in my opinion is COMPLETELY LOST when the director decides to stretch the thread between esotericism and mental illness. The development is confused and the ending incapable. I hope someone can help me understand.

What did I just watched?

[arina_the_movielover · 2/10 · 10 April 2020]

Interesting idea but so many confusions, so in the end, I had no idea what happened in the movie, what was a reality, what was imagination and who is terrible, and what is wrong with this movie. I never reviewed something before, and just for this movie, I created my IMDb account, because it's genuinely terrible aftertaste I have now! And there is no wiki page yet to explain the ending!

Not what you're expecting

[jlockwood-09511 · 1/10 · 11 April 2020]

When first reading about this film I thought it had the base for a great start when this film kicked off it was completely not what I was expecting it shouldn't have been given a 4 I think the idea behind it and what they're using is smart but the actors and the budget that they have used to produce this film has completely let it down that's why I've given this film a 1 by the end I don't care what happens this film was a waste of time

A monster did it

[nogodnomasters · 2/10 · 6 May 2020]

As a child Philip sees monsters everywhere. One grabs and kills his sister. He lives in seclusion with his mother in a big house until she dies. He is visited by a priest and by chance meets Catherine (Sonya Cullingford) who very soon becomes the victim of a failed exorcism. And then we discover what we already suspected. The film is boring, Philip is a wimp, and it is not worth watching.

Guide: F-word. sex, nudity (Sonya Cullingford).

WHAT?!?

[angelictwin · 1/10 · 26 April 2020]

I'm not entirely sure of what I just watched. The movie is all over the place. There is no storyline. The ending left me with so many questions. It's a frustrating movie to watch.

Have no idea what went on?

[leslieboland · 2/10 · 12 April 2020]

Wow my review is basically the same as the one above even to the bit I am waiting for wiki to come about so I can actually understand wtf went on

Could be worse

[robertmitchell-72134 · 7/10 · 6 November 2021]

TL; DR: it was the devil, then it wasn't, then it was. If you're confused I can't help you.

Kid is scared of demons. Demon steals his sister, now we're all scared. Fast forward to adulthood and he's still living in the family home and his mum has recently died. He's hyper religious and the place is boarded up with crucifixes and icons everywhere to ward off evil. His only friend is his childhood priest.

Somehow he meets someone and they fall in love (given that he's agoraphobic, works from home and spends all his spare time praying the rosary thisay be the biggest plot hole). She gets possessed, him and the priest do an exorcism. So it's woman as the devil, sex is bad, eve and the apple blah blah blah. Or so we think.

Half way through the exorcism it cuts back to him living normally. No girlfriend, no priest. Doesn't make sense. His neighbour inexplicably takes an interest in him and can't resist banging him in his dead sisters room after he's cried about the exorcism on his ex that "went wrong". Red flag to any normal person, surely? But not to...Satan! Crosses start turning upside down, everything gets weird. Sexy woman = devil, again Or so we think.

His internal nightmares ensue then the priest is there and he wants to know where the neighbour got to. The priest says you know where she is, just like you knew where Catherine (the girlfriend) was. The protagonist is holding a knife covered in blood that in his visions he just found. Aha. Male violence and/or mental illness as horror! OR SO WE THINK.

During his typical "schizophrenic flashback" he remembers the priest saying "the devil's greatest trick is convincing you he doesn't exist" and he resists one of the voices and we are rewound back to the exorcism (which was never finished) and he isn't attacking the girlfriend, she is possessed, and the demon is successfully cast out.

And they all live happily ever after. OR SO WE THINK (j/k, in this case a new neighbour moves in who bears a striking resemblance to one of his scary visions, obligatory silly open ending stuff).

Kept me awake all night...but not for the reason you'd think

[robinfalbo · 2/10 · 2 September 2020]

I am the kind of person who cannot help but explore every detail in any movie that I choose to watch..every word spoken, facial expressions, body language, I pick up on metaphors, underlying meanings, exposition etc... I focus and concentrate as I'm emotionally identifying with characters and plots...because of this I'm pretty picky about what movies I decide to invest in. I thought "In the trap" sounded like a good choice... I picked up on the coming plot twist pretty early on in the movie ... but other than that... I am still completely confused about this movie...I laid awake pondering potential scenarios that would make this movie make sense to me.. but nothing fit, every explanation I could come up with was a stretch with too many inconsistencies to satisfy my incessant need to understand. The first thing I did the morning after I watched it was jump on Wikipedia to see what I missed ... but apparently, Wiki didn't even want to attempt a synopsis lol. This movie was so mentally frustrating and utterly confusing, it's going to bother me for a long, long time ..........................

It took my breath away

[janetjho · 10/10 · 26 April 2020]

The jump scares are few but when they arrive they do their job! The film is very claustrophobic and took my breath away! Good actors and beautiful thrilling music!

Interesting take

[mediumdave-45506 · 6/10 · 25 May 2023]

The film is quick into attempting to introduce characters with very little background. The speed into ensuring the audience is made aware that this is a exorcism movie dilutes the intrigue as to the demons origins and purpose

With this being said, demonic theme soon gets overshadowed by the psychological battle and makes for an interesting blend of the two genres.

A few clichés you would expect but the movie relies more on the atmospheric scares rather than jumps.

A main character we see appear as weak and downtrodden throughout most of the film can grate on many but can be refreshing compared to many movies you see where characters make rash decisions to establish themselves as the movies "hero"

An ending that leaves you questioning alot and can be quite confusing, but somewhat leaves for interpretation.

Not great, but far from bad.

Sadly sunk by the leading man ...

[parry_na · 4/10 · 8 December 2021]

Featuring the wettest, most simpering leading character I have ever seen. Perpetually crying and whining, Philip does not inspire much in the way of empathy. When not blubbing, he spends a lot of the film delicately nibbling at various meals that are made for him. Sadly, as the film goes on, he only becomes more irritating, deeply so, and that hurts the film throughout.

His girlfriend, far more resolute and personable, is also the preferred meal for the resident demon. Admittedly, Philip goes through the wringer - such is the nature of horror films - but at the end, I couldn't warm to him, and didn't really understand what I'd just watched.

Nice to see veteran actor David Bailie as Father Andrew though,in one of his final roles. My score is 4 out of 10.

This Movie Will Disappoint You

[soulcrisis28 · 2/10 · 16 October 2021]

Ok for starters, I don't get what all the "I don't get what happened" and "I don't understand" reviews are about, it's not that hard to comprehend and actually, is sadly predictable.

Next, its been a long time since I've just utterly despised the lead protagonist in a movie, but this whiny "guy" takes the cake. Yeah I use the word guy loosely. His high pitched crying girl voice is worse than nails on a chalkboard, in fact I'd rather listen to nails on a chalkboard than listen to another word come out of his mouth. He completely ruins the movie on an entirely different level outside of the movie not being good to begin with.

I generally like the good vs evil possession type horror movies, but this one is just awful. It's not even remotely scary or disturbing by any means. In fact, you just want the protagonist to die a horrible death so the movie will end quicker.

Just skip this one.

P. S. Ok so the movie starts out with the lead as a kid, something bad happens and there's scenes of him after dealing with the tragic event, then it jumps to him being a grown adult. Ok, no biggie movies do that all the time, but then it cuts back to him being a kid again out of nowhere and then jumps back to him as an adult again! WTF? Whoever edited this movie is terrible and should never be allowed to touch a movie ever again.

There Are Worse Movies Than This....

[chiumt · 4/10 · 15 April 2020]

Give it a chance. A horror movie. It is not easy to make a horror movie. Very often it turns out comical and ludicrous. The whole cast takes this movie too seriously. The sound effects only made this movie more ludicrous. At the end, maybe you have wasted your precious time watching it. But at least you decided that.

Soooo Bad...

[amish-x · 1/10 · 27 March 2021]

Poor made, badly acted and the direction is all over the place, Character development is non existent.

Not even a usual horror movie cliche....

[gokay_5417 · 1/10 · 21 February 2021]

Firstly protagonist is simply lame... He is just whining all the time.... you can t really have bounds with the character you can t attach ypurself and thus you have no emphaty for him.... Also the sound effects and musics are misplaced and distracting aldo they might use some reverb on them... Storyline is worst the classical horror movie cliches.... Visual effect are forced into movie they stand absurdly and takes away all you builded up during the movie... Do not even bother this movie... Failed attemp but this is good in a way that we can xleary distinguish the good and bad movies. Thank you.

Slap with a wet fish ...

[jezwood69 · 4/10 · 25 February 2022]

Well, let's just say if this had been my girlfriend and I she would have slapped me in the face after ten minutes followed by the words "grow a pair and man up" As an actor, yeah, good, perhaps too good, but the most irritating character ever.

His resemblance to Shaggy from Scooby Doo is uncanny.

I was half expecting the priest to tell us he'd have got away with it if it wasn't for these meddling kids.

Anyway, not the worst but not far off.

An English Exorcism

[genjiken · 7/10 · 3 July 2023]

This film is an odd mixture of all the tropes you should expect from the exorcism genre, exactly ad it should be. There are some odd gaps in the story which are wrapped up at the very end. The second half changes gear with the addition of a sultry neighbour. Essential viewing if you are obsessed with exorcism films and intend on watching every single one: Most of the criticisms made by other viewers are more or less valid, only insofar as they are written by people who are not experts on exorcism films and clearly don't take the subject matter with the seriousness it deserves. Probably one of the better dramatisation of the subject.

This is what you call Horror? Seriously..?

[TheNonSmoker · 1/10 · 4 November 2020]

Typical low budget movie, selling in the name of dark rooms and stereotypical music effects, tries enough to make you feel "Horror" but everytime failed misrably

Conclusion 0/10 I think this movie is very proper to scre 9yrs old kids.

Good movie aside from negative reviews.

[tristancorry · 10/10 · 5 May 2020]

I get tired of the same old horror cliches. If you are tired of those, then this is a movie for you. Does a great job keeping things incredibly tense. At first I wasn't a fan of the Protagonist but I came around to him. The movie does a good job of not shoving exposition down your throat and instead leaves you subtle information for you to digest.

Basic

[gianmarcoronconi · 2/10 · 28 March 2022]

Very basic horror film in themes with a very banal but still spot on distortion. In the film in general, nothing is understood because nothing really makes sense and everything the protagonist does has no logical sense and cannot even be explained with the banal solution of the ending.

I didn't sleep at night ....

[ryanjo-21595 · 9/10 · 26 April 2020]

I thought I was seeing a movie like the Conjuring, but it's a different movie! But I loved it. Especially for the final twist. I had to watch twice to understand it well. It scared me. Very realistic exorcism!

Honestly....

[bumbray99 · 10/10 · 19 July 2020]

Don't watch this movie home alone in the basement around 2am in the morning, just watch it around high noon with traffic all throughout the house, and trust me, it's much safer this way bcuz this movie is going to disturb you!