Josh Hartnett plays a father who takes his daughter (Ariel Donoghue) to see the concert of a Taylor Swift type singer (played by the director’s daughter Saleka Shyamalan, who also wrote and performed the songs). Turns out that dad is also a vicious serial killer and the show is an attempt by the FBI to trap him. This rather absurd device has some clever moments and others that defy logic. As a result, there are some tense scenes near the end, but it’s more apprehensive than scary. Hartnett does a wonderful job of being sweet and dark, while Donoghue is lifelyl fun and Saleka is effective. The musical show is pretty grand, but it does get in the way of the pace. Like so many of director M. Night Shyamalan’s films, the promising thriller concept doesn’t match the execution, although there are some intriguing moments. BTW, it was wonderful to see my childhood crush Haley Mills back on screen. 
(3 / 5)
