Trap ending explained: Who set up Cooper?

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Trap.

M. Night Shyamalan's Trap takes viewers on a rollercoaster thrill ride, with a rush comparable to what some may feel at a large concert for pop stars like Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga or Beyoncé.

Trap begins with a daddy-daughter outing for Cooper (Josh Hartnett) and Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to see superstar Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan) in concert becomes a giant escape room for Cooper, who learns by charming an affable employee at the venue that the concert is a set-up manhunt for a local serial killer called "The Butcher". Well, unbeknownst to his daughter, and that too-kind employee, Cooper is actually the Butcher, and he is closely monitoring his next victim, who is tied up in one of his safe houses, on his cell phone. As the concert increasingly becomes nerve-wracking for him, with police blocking every exit, Cooper tries to stay a step ahead and plan his exit without getting caught.

"We're doing it from the killer's point of view, so I was very careful: What is he feeling or not feeling?" Shyamalan tells EW in a recent interview. "He's an interesting character to be with because he's coming alive when things get scary. He gets more playful when things are getting tighter. But with the close-ups, you show him starting to panic. As it goes, our close-ups get tighter and tighter, and it starts to become a nightmare." 

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

While Shyamalan is best known for the twists that come in the third act of his films, Trap differs compared to the rest of the filmmaker's career, but it’s still a delicious affair to watch unravel nonetheless. Let's unpack the film's wild finale, from the reveal of who set Cooper up to his grand escape in the final frame.

Who set up Cooper's trap?

During the film's intense climax, Cooper's wife, Rachel (Alison Pill) is revealed to be the one responsible for how the cops learned where he would be the night of the concert. Talking with Cooper at the dinner table over a piece of leftover pie, Rachel, heartbroken, admits that she started to notice Cooper come around very late at night. She ruled off an affair because "it didn't feel right" and the smell coming off his clothes smelt of cleaning chemicals, "the kind you smell in hospitals," Rachel says. She admits to suspecting her husband was "The Butcher" when he once convincingly told a lie to their neighbors on impulse, with no hesitation, and completely at ease. 

Rachel then confesses that she followed Cooper one night to one of his safe houses, where he kept his victims. Once her suspicions were confirmed, she left a piece of a receipt for the Lady Raven concert tickets that Cooper was going to take Riley to, and subsequently informed the police that the Butcher was scheduled to attend the concert. 

Who rescues Cooper's victim, Spencer?

When Lady Raven locked herself in Cooper and Riley's family bathroom, holding Cooper's phone, she goes on Instagram Live and puts a 411 on Spencer (Mark Bacolcol) — Cooper's latest captive he's held hostage and used as blackmail against Lady Raven. A young fan of Lady Raven who lives in the nearby area comments on her Live, saying she knew of the area he was in. Off-screen, the fan informs her family, and together they rescue Spencer.

Your fave could never.

After evading Cooper's clutches (several times) Lady Raven goes to the location where Spencer was held. There, she greets and embraces the fan and Spencer, who thanks her for finding him.

Yup, no dead people at the end of this Shyamalan tale.

Why did Cooper keep seeing his mother's ghost? 

After Cooper steals a walkie-talkie from the police force, he overhears FBI profiler Dr. Josephine Grant (Hayley Mills, the original parent trapper) describe the killer as having a bunch of unresolved mommy issues as a kid. Kinda like Norman Bates. He only responds to genuine authority because it brings back memories of his abusive mother growing up. Which is likely why Cooper hallucinates and sees his mom whenever he's urging to give into his psychopathic impulses. 

This all culminates in his downfall. Realizing he feels anger over the possibility of never seeing his children again, Cooper expresses the rage he feels, blaming Rachel entirely. Consumed with anger he explains his murder-suicide plot to "kill the monster" inside him, and he takes a bite out of Rachel's leftover pie, which she laced with the same stuff he’d use on his victims to knock them out. He sees his mom once again, this time in the doorway of his house. She expresses her pride in him for finally displaying any sign of emotion, possibly indicating that he is no longer the monster she had always perceived him to be. But it was no hallucination, it was actually the profiler using her psychology skills, channeling Cooper's mom's energy to finally capture him. Proving that Cooper did indeed have mommy issues all along.

Will the Butcher ride again?

In the final moments of the movie, Cooper is arrested at last, and is seen being put into the back of a heavy duty police truck. But just before he does that, the cops let him prop up Riley’s bike that was facing down on the front lawn because of his diagnosed OCD. However, without being seen, he disassembles one of the pikes and utilizes it to remove the lock that he is cuffed to. The final frame shows Cooper removing the handcuffs like an amateur magician, pulling his hair back, and laughing maniacally. The butcher will surely ride again.

Trap is in theaters now.