Movie Review: Split · 12:37am Feb 19th, 2019

The mid-2010s were something of a godsend for M. Night Shyamalan. Finally, it looked like he was starting to shake off some of his infamous reputation, with his work on The Visit (2015) and Wayward Pines being seen as better than several of his previous cinematic offerings. However, admittedly, I was still at the time disinterested in the man's current work.

While I'd heard about the movie Split, it wasn't until the release of Glass and that I saw Unbreakable that I was interested enough to check it out.

So, how does this 2016 thriller/horror hold up? Let's find out.

Casey Cooke (Anya Taylor-Joy) is an aloof and withdrawn teenage girl, invited to a classmate's birthday party mainly out of pity. After the party is over, said classmate, Claire (Haley Lu Richardson) does offer her a ride home with her and a friend, Marcia (Jessica Lu).

However, while waiting in the car for Claire's father, disaster strikes when a man (James McAvoy) knocks out Claire's father and kidnaps the three teenagers. Imprisoned in a cell somewhere underground, the three girls try to figure out a way to escape the nightmare that they find themselves in.

And as for their captor?

His name is Kevin Wendell Crumb. A man from a traumatic and abusive childhood, suffering from dissociative identity disorder (DID for short), Kevin has no less than 23 distinct personalities, ranging from the quirky fashion-loving Barry to the OCD pervert Dennis to the lisping childish Hedwig, among others. Normally Barry is the dominant personality of Kevin's mind, but recently Dennis, Hedwig and Patricia (a female personality, intelligent and manipulative) have made efforts towards usurping control of Kevin and have planned out the abduction of the girls.

In the meantime, Kevin's therapist Dr. Fletcher (Betty Buckley) becomes suspicious of what is going on with her patient, and tries to investigate Kevin and what his other personalities may be up to...

And, of course, the answer to that is very, very ugly.

Split, befitting a Shyamalan movie, is a film that is full of a good share of turns, though in some ways the "true" big twist of the movie is not the usual "big revelation that changes the entire plot" like in, say, The Sixth Sense or Signs. Rather...

SPOILERS TO FOLLOW:

The true twist of this film is that it's Shyamalan's first sequel, to Unbreakable. You see, the ultimate plan of Kevin's bad personalities, Patricia and Dennis, is that they believe in another, twenty-fourth personality, that they've dubbed "The Beast" and believe to be the ultimate evolution of Kevin's human potential. The girls kidnapped by Dennis are meant to be sacrifices to The Beast, who views them as unfit to live for not being "purified" by abuse like Kevin was. The final act of the movie, when The Beast emerges and goes on the rampage, contains some pretty visceral horror as he crushes one person to death via bear hug, to say nothing of the fate of his other victims...

So then, whereas that movie deconstructed the concept of a superhero existing in the real world, this one deconstructs the idea of a real-world supervillain. Specifically, just how terrifying it would be to be caught up in the rampage of a madman with powers beyond that of a normal person. The climax of the film, when The Beast finally emerges, is basically all about this... especially when he chases after Casey.

Admittedly, while I wouldn't say that full knowledge of this plot twist is necessary to view this movie, it definitely does add a lot to it. And you can see the ways that this connection to Unbreakable are foreshadowed: consider the name of the movie's heroine. Casey Cooke... sounds pretty comic-bookish, right? Also, the hypothesis of Dr. Fletcher about Kevin's nature and the potential that people with DID have reflects some similar beliefs expressed by Elijah Price as well.

END OF SPOILERS

Split is, without a doubt, James McAvoy's movie. He is absolutely superb in his performance as Kevin and all of his distinct personalities. They all have distinct characteristics, from Dennis' obsessive-compulsive fixations (there's something darkly comic about him instructing the captive girls on how they have to clean the bathroom) to Patricia's silky mannerisms, or Hedwig's childish weird behavior and lisp. The man's facial expressions in particular are impressive at conveying WHO exactly is in control... and even more impressive are the parts of the movie where he cycles through different personalities, one right after the other.

Anya Taylor-Joy does a solid job in her performance as Casey Cooke. (And also, too, I have to give commendations to the actress who plays a five-year-old Casey in flashbacks as well.) She does an excellent job of conveying a distant, troubled outsider, albeit one who is (tragically) the best suited to facing the situation and adapting to find a way out. In particular are her interactions with Kevin's Hedwig personality.

I'd also like to give kudos to Betty Buckley as Dr. Fletcher too. I was quite impressed with her performance, especially in several of her scenes where she has appointments with Barry, and tries to figure out what's going on from their conversations.

And finally, while I do wish that they got a bit more character depth, there's nothing wrong with the performances for both Claire and Marcia. In fact, they do a damn good job of conveying the terror and desperation of their captivity, and it is impressive that they keep working on ways to escape.

Split is a movie that, due to its nature as drawing from horror, and with the themes presented by Kevin's nature (as well as another major character's), deals with some pretty grim subject matter. In all honesty, I'm actually pretty surprised that the movie is only rated PG-13, given the pretty damn strong implications (or in some moments, outright references) to such dark subjects as child abuse, kidnapping, self-harm, and more. Especially in regard to one of the flashback scenes involving Casey's childhood... *shudders*

I wouldn't say that this movie is as good as Unbreakable. It is very well-constructed and acted, but in terms of personal preference, I much prefer Unbreakable to Split. Still, Split is a good film, and an important one, both for its connection to this year's Glass, and also because of its example as a work by a director who seems to making something of a return.