LOCKING THE PLAYER FOR ANIMATION

Hello, guys, I am new to unity forums and I've been looking for an answer to this problem I have.

The problem: I'm trying to make fps parkour game and I want the player to be locked at a position when it enters a hitbox.
For instance, if the player presses a button I want the player to take control from the user and smoothly face towards the button and play a certain animation.
another example: if a player is falling down and he detects an edge of a particular platform, I want it to play an animation and smoothly climb to the surface.
just like in far cry games once you press the climb button on a platform, it takes control from the user and climbs via animation.