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Trapped – Caught Stealing: Aronofsky drops horses [critique]
Austin Butler loving the screen with its magnetic loser quickdraw in this after hours under amphetamines where the creative insolence of the director of Black Swan, far from his comfort zone, is savored without moderation.
It is a messy and a little nitrous film, like a After Hours under amphetamines (the reference is fully assumed by the real and the main actor). Trapped is the adaptation of a novel by Charlie Huston by the Darren Aronofsky The most relaxed one has ever seen; And it is roughly a descent programmed to New York chaos, a shiny kaleidoscope of gangsters, cats and crazy blows. A narrative ordeal, a punk dance above the East Village. And unlike the Filmo of Aronofsky, not, but then not cerebral at all.
The novel dates from 2004 and Aronofsky obviously exploded to resuscitate the visual codes of the New York at the end of 90’s. Fleuron of an era when gentrification had not yet stripped Manhattan of its filth, the city becomes a nighttime playground where shabby bars, stinking alleys and metro stations are transformed into absurd war areas. This is where a former baseball phenomenon (Austin Butlerextraordinary) lives, in this toxic ecosystem, and he is about to see the world collapse around him …
From the streets soaked in neon with post-punk delusions of idles which saturate the soundtrack, the film is therefore a triumph of spoty style. And by integrating the first division of entertainment, Darren Aronofsky, Prince of Indie, an author often adulated in the references, decided to build his playful game. Free to survey the sidewalks as he seems, he manages to blackmail this cocktail of urban criticism and scorsesian delirium.
Halfway through, everything goes into a spin; All the mafias are giving up against the hero who has asked nothing and his cat becomes the stake of all confusion. We feel the obvious jubilation of the filmmaker to release a part of control, his jovial quest for pure bravado, while Matt Smith pulverizes his guitar on his neighbors and that the criminal orgy continues more beautiful. In fact the excitement goes a lot through the actors. Butler transpires from an old -fashioned charisma. This is the Val kilmer version of the 80s recycled in urban chaos. He loves the screen with his magnetic loser quickdraw. Zoë Kravitz brings the necessary stability to this whirlwind of betrayals, and she created with Butler a trash couple with fascinating energy. As for Matt Smith, he delivers a crazy punk number which alone justifies the trip.
Punk. The word is released. The film captures New York underground culture with enjoyable documentary clarification. The music of idles pushes the action sequences at an almost absurd rhythm where post-punk chaos and riffs intertwine in a perfect symbiosis. This brutal creative choice gives the film its unique identity: that of an Aronofsky who recharges his creative batteries, stripping all of his usual moral sermons to revel in a simple story that of a man (and a cat) and a city conspired against him.
The air of nothing, we are witnessing a slightly stunning style demonstration to the final credits. It’s exciting, funny, chaotic and well shot. Who today dares to initiate projects of this magnitude? Who still has the audacity to bet on these big arty films that have fun without complex? Admittedly, it is not the film that defines the corpus of Aronofsky, but it is the one who shows a filmmaker ready to take all the risks. And sometimes this creative insolence is the most exciting thing. In this register, Trapped Make a good pleasure to see.
By Darren Aronofsky. With Austin Butler, Zoë Kravitz, Matt Smith … Duration: 1h47. Release on August 27, 2025
