PHOTO COURTESY WARNER BROS. PICTURES

After a few years as a promising wunderkind and a couple of decades as a baffling dud factory, writer/director M. Night Shyamalan has performed his greatest twist yet: Becoming mediocre.

Two decades into a career that began with promising thrillers such as “The Sixth Sense” and “Signs” — and then decayed into such schlock as “The Happening” and “The Visit” — Shyamalan has, it seems, settled down. His 2023 film, “Knock at the Cabin,” was a fascinating if uneven sci-fi thriller, neither fully realized nor problematic enough to get upset about; it was, in short, an acceptable time at the movies.

His latest, “Trap,” is even more agreeable — a tense, single-day thriller following a serial killer attempting to evade authorities. It’s a surprisingly simple premise from the famously high-concept filmmaker; thanks to some added flair from surprising complications, “Trap” rises above the many similar suspense flicks.

Our killer, saddled with the media label “The Butcher,” (Josh Hartnett), lives a double life; by night, he’s a sadistic murderer, but by day, he’s a dedicated father. On this particular afternoon, he’s taking his teenage daughter (Ariel Donoghue) to a concert; the pop star is Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan, the director’s daughter), a Gaga-esque siren with a sea of devoted fans.

Our antihero quickly notices a phalanx of police and federal agents at the show and learns that he’s the target; for somewhat laboriously explained reasons, the authorities know that their target will be in attendance but don’t know what he looks like. A cat-and-mouse follows, with the added wrinkle that the cats can’t actually identify the mouse.

It’s contrived — Shyamalan wrote the script, as the stilted dialogue should indicate — but it is set up in a way that makes for an easily watchable film. The plot comes in waves, as one scenario threatens to foil The Butcher’s escape plan, only for him to evade detection yet again; it’s impossible to be uninvested, particularly with a charismatic performance from Hartnett, who shoulders the twists and turns with aplomb.

Leave your brain at the door, as several turns require the viewer to not so much suspend disbelief as slap it in the face. But why sneer at a good time? It’s the best Shyamalan has done in decades, so let’s accept it and eat our popcorn.

My Rating: 6/10

“Trap” is now playing in theaters.