Trap ending explained: Spoilers for M Night Shyamalan film - is there a twist?

Of course, alongside his wacky premises, Shyamalan is also known for providing twists aplenty.

In this case, the twist that Cooper is the Butcher has already been revealed in the trailers for the film, and comes early in the runtime – so you might be wondering if the writer/director's latest has another of his trademark rug–pulls up his sleeves for the final act.

Well, if you want that question answered – or you've seen the film and just need the final moments unpacked – read on to have the Trap ending explained.

Warning: Full spoilers for Trap.

Trap ending explained: Spoilers for M Night Shyamalan film - is there a twist?

The first twist – that Cooper is the serial killer known as the Butcher – comes very early in the runtime, when we see him checking footage of his latest victim, Spencer (Mark Bacolcol), who he is currently holding captive in a basement. But you better believe there are more of them on the way.

After successfully evading capture by blending in as an employee of the concert venue and stealing a police radio, he lies that Riley has recently recovered from leukemia – ensuring that she is picked by Lady Raven as the lucky audience member who gets to dance with her on stage and gain access to the backstage areas, where he has worked out is the only place devoid of police presence.

But! It turns out that the police are guarding this exit as well. His solution is to reveal his true identity to Lady Raven and promise to kill Spencer unless she secures safe passage for him and Riley in her limo.

Lady Raven reluctantly agrees, but when they arrive back at Riley's house, she hints to the rest of the family that Cooper is the Butcher, which unnerves him. She also steals his phone and – locked in the bathroom – manages to speak to Spencer about his capture, live streaming the results to her fans, who launch a successful rescue operation.

With Spencer's safety now secured, she tells Cooper's wife Rachel (Alison Pill) that he is the killer and contacts the police via her driver. Cooper reacts by locking his family upstairs and attempting to drive away with her, although the police soon arrive, which forces him to flee through a secret tunnel.

He then disguises himself by donning a SWAT uniform and drives the limo – with Lady Raven inside – away, only later revealing that it is him. As soon as he does so, however, she is once again able to rely on her hordes of fans to stop the vehicle's progress, which allows the feds to catch up and forces Cooper to run once again – this time back home.

At home, Rachel tells him that she had already suspected he was the Butcher and had tried to help the police by planting evidence – essentially revealing that she was hugely responsible for bringing about the FBI operation.

Armed with this new information, Cooper decides that his only reasonable course of action is to kill her – but she appeals to his love of Riley and convinces him to eat some pie with her first.

But! It turns out she has poisoned the pie, and Cooper starts to hallucinate – imagining, not for the first time in the film, that he is having a conversation with his mother.

But! It turns out the conversation is actually happening in real life, only not with his mother but the FBI agent in charge of the case, Josephine Grant (Hayley Mills) – who has finally caught up with him. He is tased by SWAT officers and led away.

On his way out he gives Riley an emotional hug as he is pushed into a police van, seemingly apprehended once and for all.

But! There's still one more twist – because of course there is. In the back of the van, he picks away at the cuffs using a bicycle spoke he had taken while pretending to adjust Riley's bike before their goodbye embrace. Looks like he'll be escaping again after all!

Does Trap have a post-credits scene?

There is one brief mid-credits scene in the film, which focuses on Jamie (Jonathan Langdon) – the employee at the concert venue who had first told Cooper about the FBI operation unaware he was talking to the Butcher himself.

In the scene, we see Jamie watching the news and realising for the first time that the man he'd spoken to was the killer, reacting with understandable shock.

"I helped him! I helped him!" he says. "I ain’t talking to no one at work no more!"

Interestingly, Shyamalan revealed in an interview with Gizmodo that this moment "wasn’t in the script", but was a spontaneous addition during production.

Trap is now showing in UK cinemas.

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