Trap House Review: Dave Bautista's New Thriller Is the Biggest Surprise of 2025
You think you know cop thrillers. Then Trap House walks in and flips the board.
It's tense, punchy, and way more honest than it has any right to be. The hook isn't just the guns and the sirens - it's the gut punch of parents realizing the criminals they're chasing might be their own kids.
What It's About (Without Spoilers)
Dave Bautista (movies and tv series) plays Ray Seale, a hard-edged DEA team leader hunting a Mexican cartel. The case cracks open in a way no one (movies and tv series) expects when a string of high-precision robberies points back to the agents' children.
On paper, this could've been a teen-leaning caper. It isn't. The movie keeps the stakes sharp and the consequences real, even when the story shifts perspectives between the parents and the kids (movies and tv series).
How Trap House Sidesteps the Usual Action Tropes
There are plenty of shootouts and big, clean hits - the kind of sequences you replay in your head on the drive home. But the film doesn't hide from the cost of violence. People can die. Fast.
It's not trying to be the next John Wick. Instead, it leans into grit and uncertainty, weaving action, heist, and coming-of-age beats in a way that keeps you guessing where this thing is actually headed.
From Heist High to Growing Up Hard
From the kids' point of view, it's a heist play: use the skills you learned from your parents - surveillance, timing, extraction - and hit the cartel where it hurts. They move with confidence, like they've watched this their whole lives. Because they have.
Jack Champion (movies and tv series) and Whitney Peak (movies and tv series) in Trap House
But once you've seen the same world through the parents' eyes, the fun vanishes fast. Every clever plan starts to feel like a countdown to someone getting hurt. The movie keeps those two truths side by side, and that tension is the point.
Bautista Brings the Weight - And Then Some
Bautista is the engine here. As Ray Seale, he's all tactical focus and quiet fury, but the performance lands because the dad in him never shuts off. You can feel the split-screen in his head: duty on one side, his kid on the other.
Jack Champion gives Cody the cocky certainty of a kid who thinks he's got it figured out - until he doesn't. Sophia Lillis (movies and tv series) and Whitney Peak (movies and tv series) ground the crew with sharper instincts and a little fear (the smart kind). Zaire Adams (movies and tv series) threads the needle as the friend who's funny until the moment he's not, because the danger is real.
On the other side, Tony Dalton (movies and tv series)'s Benito Cabrera is ice-cold - limited screen time, big presence. Same for Kate del Castillo (movies and tv series), who brings a calculating edge you wish the movie used more. Less is more works here, but a little more would've been great.
Curious about Bautista's recent run? His profile is here: IMDb. And if Dalton felt familiar, you probably met him in Better Call Saul (Wikipedia).
The Thread That Ties It All Together: Family
Under the gunfire and break-ins, this is a movie about who you stand with when it gets complicated. Blood family. Found family. The team that shows up when the phone rings at 2 a.m.
Pressure doesn't shatter these relationships so much as expose them. The film keeps returning to that - sometimes quietly, sometimes with a bang - and that's why it sticks.
Does It All Work?
Mostly, yeah. The genre blend is part of the thrill, but it also means some pieces don't get the time they deserve. You feel that in a few character arcs and in how the tone shifts midstream.
But the hit rate is high. The action's tense, the heists click, and the performances carry the weight the story asks them to. You walk out feeling like you saw something with a pulse.
Quick Facts
- Rating: R
- Genre: Action/Heist/Thriller
- Director: Michael Dowse
- Writer: Gary Scott Thompson (movies and tv series)
- Key Cast: Dave Bautista, Jack Champion, Sophia Lillis, Whitney Peak, Zaire Adams, Tony Dalton, Kate del Castillo
- Release: November 14, 2025 (theatrical)
Pros & Cons
- Pros
- Standout work from Bautista; strong ensemble around him.
- A solid story that blends action, heist mechanics, and coming-of-age beats.
- A clear, human message about family and accountability.
- Cons
- Some tonal wobble as the movie shifts between genres.
- Memorable villains with too little screen time.
Bottom Line
Trap House is a sharp, crowd-ready thriller that still has a heart - and a conscience. It takes big swings with its tone and, even when it wobbles, the film lands where it counts.
If you want a tense night out with strong performances and set pieces that mean something, this one's worth your ticket. Trap House is in theaters November 14.
