The movie “Trap” is inspired by a true story from Operation Flagship.

M. Night Shyamalan is no stranger to high-octane thrillers. His latest film, traptakes Silence of the LambsThe film takes place in an unlikely setting: a packed concert by pop star Lady Raven (played by the director’s daughter, Salika). Cooper (Josh Hartnett) is an ordinary suburban dad who takes his daughter to see her favorite artist. While striking up a conversation with the venue vendor, he discovers that the show is actually a trap: The FBI has a plan to catch a serial killer called “The Butcher” after learning that he will be attending. But as revealed in the trailer, Cooper He is The butcher must find a way to escape.

Although the plot may seem outlandish, it is partly based on a true story. Shyamalan shared with us that trap I got inspiration from real life. Pioneer operation“I heard about it when I was a kid and thought it was absolutely ridiculous, that this really happened,” the director said. BBC News“It was something that was on my mind a lot when it happened.”

“[The authorities] “I used the spoof against them because they lowered their guard, which I thought was very clever,” he added. “So it stuck with me, and I think when Salika and I were thinking about a movie at a concert, I was like, why can’t this person get out, and how can I keep him there?”

In December 1985, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department organized a scam in which more than 100 wanted fugitives were tricked into going to the Washington Convention Center under the guise of winning free tickets to a game between the Washington Redskins (now the Washington Commanders) and the Cincinnati Bengals, as well as a chance to win tickets to the 1986 Super Bowl. The scam was said to be part of a special event celebrating the opening of a new sports television network in D.C. called Flagship International Sports Television Inc. (it shares the same acronym as the U.S. Marshals Service’s Fugitive Investigation Team). To collect their tickets, the “winners” were required to attend a brunch a few hours before the game.

Upon their arrival, the fugitives They were divided into small groups and taken to the “party rooms.” With snacks and posters reading “Let’s Party!” marshals and police officers posed as event staff, with female officers dressed as cheerleaders hugging guests to check for weapons. Men were also given balloons, sorted by color; violent criminals received red balloons.

Louis McKinley, Chief of Enforcement Operations for the U.S. Marshals Service, pretend to be a party hostMcKinley addressed the crowd before they received their award. As soon as McKinley said he had a “big surprise,” the guards entered the room to arrest the delinquents, repeating the process with each group. This became one of the most successful mass arrests of fugitives in American history.

“It was funny. The cops were actually cheerleaders and mascot guys,” Shyamalan told The Empire magazine In July. “And [the criminals] They all got caught. It was so twisted and funny.

Instead of using a popular football game (at the time of Operation Flagship, Redskins tickets were Specially demanded item), Shyamalan chose to set the trap at a concert the size of Taylor Swift’s tour show. “I directed a whole concert,” the director said. The Empire“And it wasn’t just something in the background. It was just as important. There was no fake concert. I love the idea of ​​cinema as windows within windows. One of the reasons I go to see a movie in a theater is because there’s literally a real concert that you can’t see anywhere except in that movie.”

Retired FBI agent Tobias Roche, who was part of Operation Flagship, has fact-checked the case. British GQ How thoughtful Shyamalan’s film was. trapThe venue had a SWAT team waiting outside, as well as visible police inside, who were questioning partygoers. Roche claimed the officers should have been more discreet. He explained that Operation Flagship was planned to avoid suspicion and distract the criminals, which is why it worked. “We were concerned that some of the [the fugitives] “They will get to know each other perhaps through being incarcerated together or participating in criminal activities together,” Roche said.

In the film, a chatty salesman reveals the plan. Roche said, GQ In this kind of operation, everyone has to keep quiet about the plan for it to work. He recalls that a lawyer representing a local company that had exclusive rights to Redskins games showed up at the convention center, saying that the inaugural event for the fictitious broadcaster, Flagship International Sports Television, was illegal. The man was taken aside and told what was really going on; he kept it a secret. “He was really good at it,” Roach said. “He ended up watching the whole operation with us from the control room.” But if the lawyer had blown their cover, the operation would have been shut down.