The film stars Rajkummar Rao as a call centre employee who gets trapped in his apartment room without food, water, and electricity, and Geetanjali Thapa as his girlfriend.

In a rush to find affordable housing, he ends up moving into Swarg, a new high-rise apartment complex, which is empty due to construction and legal issues.

In a final, desperate attempt to escape, Shaurya begins sawing through the balcony gate with a metal sheet, and ultimately succeeds.

Heartbroken and traumatised by the incident, Shaurya tries to return to his normal life, but is shattered to see that his friends and colleagues had not even noticed his absence, as they are all too busy with their own lives.

[4] Motwane said in an interview with Alaka Sahani of The Indian Express that the film was "accessible" and portrayed a situation that could "happen to anyone", pointing out that everyone would have a "fear of getting trapped in a certain place or being locked out of our houses."

[6] Motwane briefed his writers to add humour to the story after the first half because he wanted to make a more accessible film for the audience to understand and was not aiming for a "claustrophobic" feel, as in The Martian (2015), where Matt Damon starts joking about his situation.

Motwane mentioned in an interview that the film's development, right from the time he got the e-mail to the start of the shoot, took four to five months to be completed.

[5] He expressed that the survival drama genre in Indian cinema was still in a nascent stage and felt the film is along the lines of Cast Away (2000), 127 Hours (2010) and Buried (2010).

[5][6] He mentioned that the character in the film was portrayed in a quirky and voyeuristic way, allowing the audience the experience of enjoying a man's misery.

When his film Bhavesh Joshi did not work out, he asked Rao if he could spare twenty days in the following month for Trapped, to which he agreed.

[9] He had to lose weight and remained on a carrot and coffee diet throughout the course of filming, as he wanted to accurately depict the character eating improper food during the time he is stuck inside the apartment.

[15] Motwane and his cinematographer, Siddharth Diwan, decided to use the Red Epic Dragon camera, which they felt was suited to shooting in enclosed spaces.

[16] Trapped was edited by Nitin Baid, while Kazvin Dongar and Anish John served as the art director and sound designer respectively.

[15] Trisha Gupta of Mumbai Mirror observed that unlike the survival dramas of Hollywood, where the protagonist is caught between rocks, cornered by wolves, afloat in the ocean, or stuck with a tiger on a ship in the ocean, the protagonist of Trapped gets trapped in an apartment located in the middle of the city with some of the basic facilities.

[18] According to Uday Bhatia of Mint, all of Motwane's films are about individuals who are trapped in various ways by their life choices and social stations.

[4] Anupama Chopra called the film a "singularly Mumbai movie" and wrote, "Where else can a man be surrounded by thousands of people and yet be so utterly alone?

"[19] Namrata Joshi from The Hindu felt that the film's horror and danger lurks in the ordinary and the everyday of anyone, saying, "dysfunctional locks, forgotten keys, mobiles with discharged batteries, water cuts and electrical outages—we have all been there.

Devansh Sharma of Firstpost wrote about the song "Dheemi", which was voiced by Tejas Menon, "[it] explores the familiar zone of falling in love slowly and surely.

"[23] A reviewer from The Indian Express wrote regarding the song "Hai Tu", which was voiced by Gowri Jayakumar, "The minimalistic approach with dominant violin and piano notes lifts your mood.

[26] The title of the film was tentatively called Trapped, but Motwane declared that it would be changed following the premiere and asked the audience to suggest an appropriate name.

[7] Phantom Films requested their exhibition partners to release it that way, as Motwane said, "the no-interval viewing allows the viewer to feel the character's emotion and gives them a never-before thrilling experience".

[31][32] A special screening was held on 14 March in Mumbai, which was attended by several actors, including Kriti Sanon, Taapsee Pannu, and Richa Chadda.

[35] Rohit Vats of Hindustan Times gave a positive review, writing, "Trapped is unique because it's unlike any other one-room drama.

[39] Anupama Chopra in her review denoted the film as "ultimate urban nightmare" and wrote: "Trapped is a tight-wire act, which would collapse without the masterful Rajkummar Rao.

[19] Ananya Bhattacharya of India Today gave a positive response, writing, "Rajkummar Rao and his terrific act deserve a watch.

"[42] Mayank Shekhar from Mid-Day gave a positive response, writing, "[that the film] manages to grippingly hold your attention with such an underwhelming Setting is an achievement in itself.

"[45] In contrast to the positive reviews, Anna M. M. Vetticad wrote, "What the film ends up being then is a series of oh-my-did-he-really-do-that and what-would-I-have-done-in-the-same-situation moments, which too lose their sheen in the last half-hour.

[46] A review from the Indo-Asian News Service carried by Sify called the film "exhausting and fabricated" and made viewers feel "trapped in the auditorium".