M. Night Shyamalan's Trap Was Inspired By A Twisted True Story

The premise of M. Night Shyamalan's new film "Trap" is intense and intriguing. The film's ubiquitous previews have laid it bare: an average middle-aged dad named Cooper (Josh Hartnett) is accompanying his tween daughter to a high-profile concert, performed by an Olivia Rodrigo-type pop star. While picking up refreshments at the concession stand, Cooper notices a palpable police presence at the Philadelphia arena where the concert is taking place. An employee excitedly informs him that the police have the entire arena surrounded, hoping to capture a serial killer they believe to be hiding inside.

This worries Cooper, although not for the reasons you might think. It turns out that Cooper is the serial killer in question and even has a potential victim lied up in his basement at home. What is the killer going to do to evade police capture? Or will the police be clever enough to capture him?

Shyamalan wrote the screenplay to "Trap," and, in an interview with Empire Magazine, admitted that he was inspired by a curious "What if" question — specifically, what if "The Silence of the Lambs" was happening in the background of Taylor Swift's "The Eras Tour?" How fascinating if the frothy, bubblegum pop of Taylor Swift was juxtaposed with humans being skinned alive and/or eaten? It's murder at the ice capades.

Shyamalan also recalled a real-life incident from 1985 that some older readers may remember. Operation Flagship was a notorious sting operation carried out by the United States government to capture hundreds of fugitives on the lam ... by sending them free tickets to a Washington Redskins/Cincinnati Bengals game. The plot resulted in the arrests of 101 people. It might be the largest mass arrests in the history of the United States.

Operation Flagship was the culmination of a states-wide, several-years effort by U.S. Marshals to capture hundreds of escaped convicts. They put together — and this is real — a special task force called the Fugitive Investigative Strike Team, or F.I.S.T., in order to round up criminals. One of F.I.S.T.'s primary tactics was, essentially, to scam the fugitives by mail. They would mail out flyers assuring the fugitives that they had won a marvelous prize. When they came to collect, they would be arrested. This was a safe and easy way to round up known criminals since arresting them at their homes was dangerous and inefficient.

In Buffalo, New York, fugitives were told they won a $10,000 lottery. In New York City, they were told they had to pick up a "valuable package" that had been delivered. Also relevant to "Trap," convicts in Hartford, Connecticut were promised two free tickets to see Boy George in concert. All told, the widespread sting operation captured 3,309 criminals.

It was Operation Flagship, however — with the promise of tickets to the 1985 Redskins/Bengals game — that resulted in the largest concentrated number of arrests. Amusingly, one of the chief architects of the scheme, Tobias P. Roche, inserted multiple little clues that would have tipped off an observant criminal. The fake name he chose to put on the game invitation was I. Michael Detnaw, which is "Wanted" backwards. The "business manager" in the scheme was named Markus Cran, which is "narc" backwards.

The sting also involved hundreds of marshals, cops, and other law enforcement agents who dressed as ushers, cheerleaders, mascots, and stadium employees. They all had to remain in character. It wasn't just effective. It sounds weirdly fun.

Shyamalan was supremely tickled by the details of Operation Flagship. "It was hilarious," he told Empire. "[...] The cops were literally cheerleaders and mascots. These guys were dancing as they came in. And they were all caught. It was so twisted and funny." None of the criminals arrested were serial killers, but there were some wanted for violent crimes. Most of the criminals captured, however, were released on bail.

Of course, for a feature film, Shyamalan had the extra challenge of orchestrating the entire football game and not just the sting. In this case, he hired his daughter Saleka, an aspiring pop star herself, to play a singer named Lady Raven. He then had to direct her whole concert in the background of his feature film. As he put it:

"I directed an entire concert! [...] And it wasn't just a thing in the background. It's equally important. There is no pretend concert going on. I love the idea of cinema as windows within windows. One of the reasons to come see the movie at the movie theater is because there's literally a real concert that you can see nowhere except in that movie."

At least one of Lady Raven's singles, a song called "Release," will be included on the soundtrack to "Trap." Saleka also provided songs for her father's TV series "Servant" and his feature film "Old." "Trap" is her first time acting, although it may be difficult to see the differences between Saleka's style and that of Lady Raven.

Meanwhile, audiences will have to wait until August 2, 2024, to see if Shyamalan's own Operation Flagship will be effective against his sinister serial killer.