Trap: How [SPOILER] Knew That Cooper Was The Butcher

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS ahead for Trap.

One of the biggest twists in Trap was the reveal that Cooper’s wife Rachel was in on it from the start. Based on the initial trailer for Trap that was released months before its August 2, 2024 release, it was more of a premise than a twist that Josh Hartnett’s star character Cooper Adams was in fact a serial killer. Hartnett has made a major comeback over the last few years after he appeared in Black Mirror season 6 and Christopher Nolan’s Best Picture winner Oppenheimer and has shown no signs of slowing down since. He made a surprise guest appearance in The Bear season 3, becoming an official member of the series’ coveted expansive universe.

Hartnett poses as a serial killer disguised as a supportive father in Trap, which also features the feature film debut of Shyamalan’s daughter Saleka as pop singer Lady Raven as a major part of the cast of Trap. Allison Pill plays the wife of Hartnett’s Cooper and the mother of Riley, who is portrayed by Australian actress Ariel Donoghue. Pill’s character Rachel doesn’t appear until later on in Trap after Cooper reveals himself as the serial killer known as The Butcher backstage after her concert. Despite Rachel seeming oblivious of Cooper’s true identity throughout Trap, she reveals herself during the film’s climax as the orchestrator of the concert set up.

The Smell Of Cooper’s Clothes Made Rachel Think He Was The Butcher

Rachel smelled cleaning supplies from a hospital on Cooper’s clothes

During Trap’s exciting and nerve-wracking climax, Cooper returns back to his home after attempting to escape with Lady Raven pretending to be a SWAT operative. Once that plan fell through, he was forced to ditch his improvised plan with Lady Raven, which was likely to use her as collateral or just kill her for playing a massive part in exposing his double life as The Butcher. Even for Cooper, all roads lead back to home with a final confrontation with Rachel, who he gets to admit that she was the one who first caught on to the potential of Cooper being a serial killer.

Although Rachel never caught Cooper in the act of killing, he was able to deduce that Rachel must have found all of his late nights away from home suspicious. Rachel confirms this and admits that she initially believed Cooper was having an affair. It was only until she started to smell the distinct peculiar smell of cleaning supplies on Cooper’s clothes that she began to suspect something more was up. Rachel said that the cleaning supplies smelled more like those used at a hospital rather than a fire department, where Cooper worked. As meticulous as Cooper was in covering up his identity, the cleaning supplies ended up being his Achilles heel.

Rachel Followed Cooper To One Of The Butcher’s Houses

The smell of cleaning supplies & Cooper’s secret property raised Rachel’s suspicions

The potent smell of cleaning supplies on Cooper’s clothes led Rachel to do some further digging into Cooper’s late-night whereabouts. Still suspecting that Cooper was having an affair, she followed Cooper to one of The Butcher’s several safe houses where he would plan, hold, and kill his victims. Although she still wasn’t able to prove anything, the combination of Cooper’s clothes smelling like hospital-strength cleaning supplies and the shocking realization that Cooper had a secret property greatly raised Rachel’s suspicions. Cooper demonstrated that he was a quick thief throughout the film, which is likely how he got a hold of the hospital cleaning supplies.

Although Rachel only discovered Cooper’s planning house and where he would strategize his abductions and murders, it was more than enough to make Rachel’s suspicions grow. Rather than reaching out to the police or even to a family member or friend, Rachel decided to take matters into her own hands by planting the initial seed that would set up the FBI trap at Lady Raven’s concert. She planted a torn receipt of Lady Raven tickets that Cooper had purchased for their daughter Riley at the safe house, which was discovered by police. This then set the Lady Raven concert trap in motion unbeknownst to Cooper and Riley.

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When Rachel Knew For Sure That Cooper Was The Butcher

She likely had her suspicions confirmed when Lady Raven was at their house

Pointing out exactly when Rachel absolutely knew that Cooper was The Butcher is a bit unclear, as she indicates that she wasn’t even sure when she planted the ticket. Based on what the audience is given in Trap, it appears that she must have had her suspicions confirmed only after Lady Raven yelled the truth about Cooper out loud from the bathroom of their family home. Cooper then locked his family in a room upstairs but they were able to get out. It’s likely that Rachel didn’t immediately reveal to Cooper that she was on to him because she was terrified of him and found it wiser to play dumb, which nearly worked at the end of Trap.

Trap

3.0

Trap is a film by writer-director M. Night Shyamalan under his Blinding Edge Pictures label. The film is part of a deal struck with Warner Bros for him to direct and produce several films under their banner. 

Release Date

August 2, 2024

Studio(s)

Blinding Edge Pictures , New Line Cinema

Distributor(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures , New Line Cinema

Cast

Josh Hartnett , Hayley Mills , Marnie McPhail , Vanessa Smythe , Saleka Shyamalan , Malik Jubal , Jonathan Langdon , Peter D’Souza , Ty Pravong , Kaitlyn Dallan

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