Trap ending explained: do they catch Cooper?

M. Night Shyamalan is back with his 2024 new movie , Trap , which as always begs the question: what twist does The Sixth Sense director have up his sleeve this time?

We've seen the movie (read our Trap review to get our official thoughts on it) and are going to break down all of the Shyamalan twists and turns of the plot. Obviously SPOILER ALERT if you have not yet seen the movie. Find out how to remedy that with our how to watch Trap post.

OK, now that you've been properly warned, let's get into the details.

Trap stars Josh Hartnett as Cooper, a seemingly dorky dad who takes his teenage daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to a concert of her favorite pop singer, Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan). Cooper quickly notices there are a lot of police at the venue, stationed at all the exits and pulling some individuals from the crowd. Cooper quickly realizes that they are there for him, as he is a notorious serial killer known as The Butcher, who currently has another victim, Spencer (Mark Bacolcol), chained up in an unknown location that he can monitor through his phone. However, they don't know what Cooper looks like.

Still, the police presence puts Cooper on high alert, as he attempts to find ways around the security while also not alerting his daughter to what he's doing. But every potential opening he finds is seemingly shut off by a skilled FBI profiler, Dr. Josephine Grant (Hayley Mills). With the unwitting help of an excited stadium vendor, Jamie (Jonathan Langdon), Cooper is able to find out that the only way to avoid the police is through the backstage area. Can Cooper escape, or is his killing spree about to end?

Do they catch Cooper?

Seemingly stuck, Cooper is given hope when Riley tells him Lady Raven always picks someone from the audience to dance with her on stage for one song and afterward they get to meet with her backstage. With this info Cooper swings into action, finding Lady Raven's team and telling them his daughter is recovering from cancer to make sure they pick her for the song. It works, and the two are taken backstage past the security.

After the concert Cooper and Riley are waiting to talk with Lady Raven before they head out. But first the singer goes into the security room. Cooper overhears her conversation with Dr. Grant, who says they are going to question every man who leaves the concert, even those coming from the backstage area, save for those with Lady Raven as her team has been screened.

When Lady Raven comes and talks to Riley and Cooper, Cooper asks to speak with her alone (again using Riley's fake cancer as his alibi). Once alone, he admits he is The Butcher but tells Lady Raven she is going to drive them out in her limo or he will kill Spencer (which he can do from an app in his phone). Lady Raven has no choice but to agree.

Once they are out of the arena, Lady Raven attempts to take control back by asking Riley if she can come visit her house. Cooper, not wanting to reveal himself to his daughter, has to go along with it. At Cooper's home, Lady Raven offers to play a song on their piano and asks Riley to sit next to her while Cooper records it on his phone. Lady Raven is able to discreetly grab Riley's phone before she plays, so when she offers to take a selfie, Riley doesn't have her phone. Lady Raven suggests they use Cooper's phone, quickly grabbing it from his hand and then in the confusion immediately goes into the bathroom and locks the door.

While Cooper aggressively tries to open the door amid his family's confusion, Lady Raven opens the app on Cooper's phone that has the live feed to Spencer. She is able to talk with him and get details about where he might be — he remembers a broken lion and a blue door. Lady Raven then takes to social media and asks her followers to help by sharing if they know what area may have a broken lion and a blue door? Someone answers and Lady Raven asks them to carefully go check it out and try and save Spencer. She then texts her driver to call 911.

With that taken care of, Lady Raven opens the bathroom door and finds Cooper waiting. He has locked his family in one of the bedrooms, has grabbed his (for lack of a better term) "murder bag" and is going to take Lady Raven to one of his kill houses. As they get into the car, Lady Raven uses a tactic Dr. Grant told her, trying to speak like Cooper's mother would (who the serial killer has been having visions of throughout the movie). While Cooper engages a bit with this, it ultimately doesn't work. But when he opens the garage door, his family is there blocking his way; he didn't think that they could reach a tree from the bedroom window to get out. Stymied, Cooper lets Lady Raven go and tells his family goodbye, going back into the house and awaiting the police, who are just seconds away.

Dr. Grant has the family and Lady Raven taken away. However, after the police enter the house they discover a tunnel to the neighbor's. Cooper escaped through that and he took the place of Lady Raven's driver. Once away he reveals himself to her, locks her in handcuffs to the limo bar railing and reveals he is going to kill her. On the way to his safehouse though they stop at a traffic light and Lady Raven is able to reach the window button and have it come down enough so people can see her. Her fans then crowd the limo not allowing Cooper to move and the police to catch up once they realized what happened. Lady Raven is able to break fee of the bar railing and exits the limo. The police then disperse the crowd with their guns pointed at Cooper in the driver's seat. After he doesn't respond they open fire. But it's not Cooper in the seat, it's a fake body made up of concert merch. Instead, Cooper, wearing a Lady Raven hoodie, is among the crowd of fans, able to eventually slip away.

Not able to recapture Lady Raven, Cooper decides to go home, where his wife Rachel (Alison Pill) is now alone. He reveals he now knows it was her who tipped off the FBI, which she confirms, having initially suspected him of cheating but became alarmed when she found one of his houses and that it was entirely bare save for a table and chair. Cooper is going to kill her now, angry she has prevented him from seeing their kids grow up, but Rachel delays him by asking if they can finish the pie she made for Riley. Cooper relents and quickly eats it. It's only after he finishes it though that he realizes she sprinkled some of the drugs from his murder bag on it to knock him out. Still, Cooper sluggishly moves toward Rachel but is stopped when he again sees a vision of his mother, silhouetted in the front door. He goes to her but it's not his mom, it's Dr. Grant. She and other FBI agents tase Cooper, finally catching him.

What is the twist in Trap?

Even after all of the plot twists and turns that led to Cooper's eventual capture, there was one more up the director's sleeve in this story.

As Cooper is being escorted away in handcuffs, he stops, spotting one of his kids' bikes knocked over in the grass. As he moves toward it the police raise their guns at him but Rachel pleads with them not to shoot him. Cooper simply puts the bike rightside up and then stands back up.

Riley arrives back at the house and gives Cooper one final hug before he is placed in a police vehicle and taken away. However, as the car drives away the camera returns to the bike. It zooms in until we see a wire is missing from the bike spoke.

Back in the police vehicle, Cooper removes the spoke and uses it to unlock his cuffs. A smile comes across his face as he is once again freed.

Does Trap have a post-credit scene?

Yes, there is a quick post-credit scene after the initial run of credits (probably about 30 seconds to a minute, so you won't have to wait long).

The scene sees Jamie, the stadium vendor, sitting down at his house. He has the news on the TV as they give a report about The Butcher, saying they finally have his identity. His excitement quickly turns to dread as he realizes it is Cooper and that he helped him at the concert. Jamie gets upset, flailing his arms and claiming "I'm never talking to people again!"

Trap is now playing exclusively in US movie theaters.