The most controversial thriller of 2024 is finally streaming on Max. That's why you should check it out

M. Night Shyamalan is one of the most controversial filmmakers of the last 30 years. After appearing in the late 90s and early 2000s with acclaimed thrillers like The sixth sense, UnbreakableAnd Signits reputation began to decline after largely critical failures such as were released The village, Lady in the waterAnd The event. In recent years, Shyamalan has enjoyed a late resurgence in his career as a writer and director of high-profile, modestly budgeted thrillers (see: Share, Old, Knock on the hut). Yet he remains one of Hollywood's most polarizing directors.

You need look no further than the reception of his latest film, Catchas proof of this. When the serial killer thriller hit theaters in early August, it was both welcomed and rejected. Some were quick to express their praise for the film's technical craftsmanship and perfectly staged lead performances, while others dismissed it due to Shyamalan's consistently stiff dialogue and its absurdly twisted third act. Now, a few months later, Catch is officially streaming on Max.

The film's divisive reception shouldn't stop you from giving it a chance. For all its flaws, it's a refreshingly bold thriller – one that's not afraid to take big twists or be playful. In fact, Shyamalan has never made a film that was so in tune with his own Hitchcockian sense of dark humor. Once you realize and accept that, Catch will be much more fun and entertaining.

A subversive cat-and-mouse thriller

Catch follows Cooper Abbott (Josh Hartnett), a firefighter, husband and father of two who secretly moonlights as a merciless serial killer known as “The Butcher.” When Catch begins, he has already kidnapped his next victim and has resorted to intermittently monitoring his hostage's status via a camera feed on his phone. However, Cooper is forced to give up his murderous secret life to accompany his unsuspecting daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to an Eras Tour concert for her favorite pop star Lady Raven (Saleka Night Shyamalan).

It's only shortly after Cooper arrives at the concert's arena that he realizes he's unknowingly fallen into – you guessed it – a trap. The FBI somehow received word that the Butcher would be attending Lady Raven's concert, and its agents intend to interrogate every man at the venue who fits the Butcher's profile. All of this is anchored economically and methodically Catchopens at 15 minutes and the film then spends the rest of its running time following Cooper as he tries to get out of the concert without attracting the attention of the FBI or alerting Riley to the truth of what is going on.

Cooper's attempts to escape justice prove by turns brilliant, chaotic, unnerving and deeply darkly funny. Unlike most of Shyamalan's films Catch does not revolve around a central twist. Instead, the thriller derives all of its entertainment and shock value from trapping its protagonist in a seemingly inescapable situation and simply following him while still trying to escape from it. It's a subversive take on a typical cat-and-mouse thriller – one that consciously and explicitly forces the audience to question their own loyalty to Cooper as he proves himself increasingly ruthless and therefore the fate he faces tried to avoid, the more deserved.

A Hitchcockian construction

Catch has less in common with Shyamalan's other films than with high-spirited thrillers like Alfred Hitchcock Rope And Suspicion. His connection to RopeParticular is undeniable. Like the 1948 classic about two murderers who decide to hide a body in their living room before hosting a dinner party, Catch puts you in the same position as a murderer, forcing you to watch in fear as he tries to hide himself and his criminal alter ego under a thin shell of normality. However, Shyamalan is even more sensationalist than Hitchcock, and so he takes his latest narrative construction to the extreme with several twists in the third act that push Shyamalan's already loose credibility to the extreme Catch's story.

Not all of the film's left turns come off as smoothly as Shyamalan would like. Even the director's half-hearted attempts to psychologize his charming murderer always end in dull blows. How Ropealthough, Catch has a pitch-black comedic spirit that shines through in the final 20 minutes, making it easier to accept some of its more absurd leaps of logic. Shyamalan also remains one of the bravest and most skilled visual artists of his generation and directs Catch with a level of playful artistry that is infectious.

This is Shyamalan at his funniest, lightest and most macabre. His latest work is a brilliant thriller that doesn't take itself, its characters and its story too seriously. It captures your attention so easily that you almost take the crafts on display for granted. But that's okay. Catch wants to do nothing more than entertain you, and it effortlessly does just that. It's a great way to spend a Friday or Saturday night – especially now that it's streaming just in time for Halloween.

Catch is now streaming Max.