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Three teenage girls (Anya Taylor-Joy, Hayley Lu Richardson,
and Jessica Sula) are kidnapped by a man (James McAvoy) with 23 separate
personalities. These three girls are meant to be “sacrifices,” so to speak, for
the 24th personality. I have to say I’m glad that The Visit wasn’t a fluke. Split signals that writer-director M.
Night Shyamalan is definitely back. This is a really damn good movie anchored
by fantastic performances from James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy. McAvoy in
particular really stretches his acting muscles. Each of the personalities he
portrays feels distinct from one another. The primary personalities are
“Patricia (a British woman),” “Hedwig (a nine-year-old boy),” “Dennis (a man
with OCD),” “Barry (a man with a penchant for fashion),” “Kevin (the real
identity),” and “the Beast” (the forthcoming 24th identity). Now, I
don’t want to take away from the rest of the cast because they’re solid enough
They just can’t reach the levels that the two main performers do. Throughout
the movie, Shyamalan lets this feeling of unease build and linger. As the film
progresses, you really feel the protagonist and the antagonist come into their
own, feeling more and more real as the movie progresses. With most horror and
thriller movies, setting is crucial. Much of this movie is contained to a
basement (we aren’t told exactly where it this basement is until the end) and
it actually adds a feeling of claustrophobia and tension to the movie. The
twist is incredible, probably Shyamalan's best since Unbreakable. When you see what the twist is, it works and feels like it naturally belongs in this movie. I have but one flaw with this movie (a minor one at that),
and that is that occasionally, the dialogue feels odd. Other than that, Split is a fantastic film that cements
Shyamalan’s comeback.
9 / 10
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