The Visit and Trap with M. Night Shyamalan in Hollywood

Two movies about families that aren't what they seem, one theater, and the man who made both of them sitting down afterward to talk. On Monday, September 28, American Cinematheque screens The Visit and Trap back to back at the Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, with M. Night Shyamalan on hand for a Q&A. If you keep a running list of things to do in Los Angeles that you can't get anywhere else, this one belongs near the top.

The double bill

The program runs under the title "The Power of Paranoia," and it's part of the Cinematheque's Beyond Fest 2026 slate and its "Night Visions: The Shock and Awe of M. Night Shyamalan" series.

The Visit (2015, 94 minutes, Universal) was Shyamalan's low-budget comeback. Becca and her younger brother Tyler take a train into Pennsylvania farm country to meet their grandparents, Nana and Pop Pop, for the first time. Things seem fine for about a day. Then the old couple's behavior gets stranger, and the kids start to wonder if they'll make it home. It's scary, but it's also funny in a way people forget, and it plays much better with a crowd.

Trap (2024, 105 minutes, Warner Bros.) is the newer one. A father takes his daughter to a pop concert and slowly figures out that the whole arena is the center of something dark. It's a thriller built almost entirely inside a single venue, which makes watching it in a packed historic theater a nice bit of irony.

Both films screen on DCP.

What to expect

Add up the runtimes and you're looking at more than three hours of movie before the conversation even starts, so plan on a late Monday. The Q&A is the draw here. Shyamalan's career has had big swings, and a room full of Beyond Fest regulars tends to ask better questions than a junket does.

The Egyptian itself is worth the trip. It opened in 1922, got a long restoration, and reopened a few years ago as the Cinematheque's flagship. The forecourt, the columns and the painted ceiling all still read as old Hollywood.

Practical info

• When: Monday, September 28, 2026, 7:00 PM
• Where: Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles
• Tickets: $27.00 on the American Cinematheque site, which says the price includes a $2.00 online booking fee
• Details: Discover Los Angeles event listing

Director Q&As sell out fast, so don't wait on tickets. The Metro B Line's Hollywood/Highland station is a short walk east along the boulevard, and it beats circling for parking near the Walk of Fame on a weeknight. Paid lots around Highland and McCadden are the fallback.

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