I was lucky to view the premier of Trap Street at the Walter Reade Movie Theater of the Lincoln Center, which was packed with an enthusiastic audience. I also participated its director's Question and Answer session right afterward the show. The audience were very interested and active in asking questions, which approximately 30 questions were asked and answered with respect to all aspects of the movies. This gave me a much better understanding of the circumstance in which the movie was made.
Trap Street initially follows narratives of a love story, appealing, elegant, and with a tint of nostalgia. However, the movie leaves many aspects of uncertainty for imagination, revealing skillful tactics of the director. As the story develops, all uncertainty accumulate together, causing great intensity and curiosity on the audience. As the intensity and curiosity gradually ease as the story unfolded, the movie comes to a surprising end, appearing initially out of expectation, but completely within the logical scope of the movie. This unexpected ending is the climax of Trap Street.
Black humor is a characteristics of all post modern movies, and is also evident throughout Trap Street. I strongly recommend to watch the movie in theater. I would also like to point out a possible regret of the movie: The director in the Q&A session emphasized this was not a movie of politics. I totally agree with her on this point. However, some audience are still overwhelmed by its political implications, as indicated by their questions, especially after the Snowden incident. The political implications of the movie compete with its artistic merits for attention from the audience, which is probably not the original intention of the director. But can we do any better as we are all living in a political society?
