I haven’t watched many M. Night Shyamalan movies. I mostly tapped out after Signs and never saw the movies that followed, which were mostly panned by critics and the general public. So when I heard that Shyamalan might have turned it around again after the last few failures with new and interesting thrillers, I was curious. Not curious enough to seek it out right away, since I haven’t seen The Visit yet and I only just saw Split for the first time, but I’d say Split was a compelling and intriguing watch that makes me want to see what follows in the next chapter.

Before I get ahead of myself, I think there are plenty of flaws to Split. I also think the movie decides to go in a somewhat supernatural direction that is somewhat surprising if not unnecessary. However, if you consider that this fits into the same sort of limits of Shyamalan’s earlier film, Unbreakable, Split makes a little more sense and kind of gets away with the unbelievable.

Pros

• James McAvoy acts his ass off and shows his ranges

• Great opening scene

• Tension that builds until the climax

• Good acting from Anya Taylor-Joy

• Side characters are interesting enough to make the movie compelling and not just an acting resume for McAvoy

Cons

• Scene with Shyamalan should have been removed and has the worst dialogue of the movie

• Casey seems to know too well what to do in some situations and nothing in others, making her somewhat inconsistent as a character

• The horror doesn’t kick in until the end

• Only works if you suspend your disbelief and get a kick out of McAvoy doing different impressions

Plot & Thoughts

Claire (Haley Lu Richardson), her friend Marcia (Jessica Sula), and Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy), the social outcast who was invited to her birthday party out of pity, are all abducted by a mysterious bald man (James McAvoy). It’s soon revealed that he goes by many names because he has many personalities. This isn’t just your typical split-personality disorder though. This is a dissociative identity disorder (DID) that changes the structure of the person’s body based on the personality. Personalities with diabetes need to take insulin. Personalities that are young children are easily tricked and weak. Personalities that are monstrous and strong on an inhuman level allow the person to achieve these qualities.

Unfortunately for these young girls who have been kidnapped and imprisoned, several of this man’s personalities believe somewhat dogmatically in a mysterious personality that has yet to emerge, known as the Beast. The Beast, when he arrives, will kill and eat them as something of a ritualistic sacrifice. The girls only have a few days to figure out how to outsmart his various personalities and escape before the Beast arrives. Meanwhile, the personalities that do not believe in this prophecy are attempting to reach the man’s psychiatrist and warn her of the situation.

It’s an inherently intriguing situation with lots of room to go in different directions. The scenes in which the girls are interacting with the man and his different personalities are great, with each scene giving something of a new interaction or an opportunity for the girls to escape, ratcheting up the tension. The scenes in which he’s interacting with Dr. Fletcher (Betty Buckley) and trying to hide his schemes are also pretty interesting, as they provide us with more details on the disorder while building the characters. The flashbacks for Casey are also intriguing and well-shot. However, a fair amount of the movie surrounding Casey’s past and the supernatural theory about DID feels like fluff, at times. I know it’s the movie’s way of trying to get us to just accept what it’s telling us, but I don’t think it’s always successful.

The absolute worst scene of the movie occurs when Shyamalan makes his obligatory cameo appearance as Dr Fletcher’s assistant. It’s a scene that could be completely removed at no detriment to the plot, and it should have been with such trash dialogue. Shyamalan’s acting is poor and the lines that Betty Buckley speaks seem like first drafts meant to evoke laughs, but they fall flat. It’s just bad.

Outside of that, I’d say Split is all about just watching McAvoy work. He does a commendable job jumping from one personality to another, sometimes within one scene. I can’t say that I’m always pulled into his performance, but I think it’s clear that he’s having fun doing it, and that translates to the screen as a hammy, fun time. 

TL;DR (Conclusion)

Split is not really horror and it’s barely a thriller. However, it’s an intriguing movie that manages to tell an interesting (if somewhat unbelievable) story that slowly ratchets up the tension toward the end. Split requires that you accept a lot of what it’s telling you at face value. However, if you can, you should have a fun time.