Split

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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 24^th 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 24^th 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