Split

Way back in 1999, a close friend of mine took me to see a little movie called The Sixth Sense. I was aware of the film, of course, but hadn't gotten around to it yet. She said I had to see it. What I saw that summer evening floored me and I quickly became a fan of the film's writer/director, M. Night Shyamalan. I continued to be impressed by his subsequent films, Unbreakable, Signs, and The Village. Things began to fall apart with his film The Happening and he continued to stumble with subsequent films but in the past couple years started to make a bit of a comeback. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Split is a return to form for Shyamalan. 

Three girls, Casey (played by Anya Taylor-Joy), Claire (played by Haley Lu Richardson) and Marcia (played by Jessica Sula) are leaving a local restaurant when they are kidnapped and drugged by a strange man. They awake in a locked room in a basement and are soon introduced to their captor, Dennis (played by James McAvoy). He makes it clear that they were taken for a reason and then leaves again, locking the door behind him. Later, they hear Dennis arguing outside the room with a woman and start banging on the door asking her to help them. She comes in and introduces herself as Patricia (played by James McAvoy) and to their horror they realize that their captor has dissociative personality disorder. This is made even more clear when they meet the nine year old Hedwig (played by James McAvoy), yet another personality. Then there is also the extroverted fashion designer Barry (played by James McAvoy), the scholarly Orwell (played by James McAvoy) and on and on for a total of 23 distinct personalities inhabiting one body. There is the looming threat of an emerging 24th personality known only as The Beast. The girls, led by Casey, have to try and figure out which of the personalities they can trust to try and escape their prison while avoiding and deceiving the others before the ominous 24th personality emerges.

The main draw of this film is without a doubt going to be James McAvoy's performance. He manages to create a series of very distinct characters with very subtle changes and is a very impressive performance that left me blown away. The way he carries himself, walks, his posture all of it changes from character to character, each one with a distinct voice as well. It is truly something to marvel and admire. It is clear that McAvoy is having a blast with the role as he sinks his teeth into each of the distinct personalities. Anya Taylor-Joy is great as well in Casey, one of the captured girls who has a dark past and seems to know a little too well how to deal with predatory adults. The film does occasionally flashback to show Casey's past and while not perfectly integrated into the rest of the film, they do add some necessary back story to the character so I didn't mind it as much as some other critics have.   

The film is also a strong return to form for M. Night Shyamalan, who had lost his way over the course of several terrible movies, but started to show a return with the 2015 film The Visit and solidifies it here. He crafts a tale that is unpredictable and surprising in turns with the directions the story goes leading up to an ending reveal that will no doubt leave his fans exhilarated and others perplexed. But more than just the now usual Shyamalan twist, he crafts a memorable and unique thriller that kept me enraptured through it's run time. 

Split will probably be best remembered for James McAvoy's fantastic performance in this film, giving such life to a person with numerous alternate personalities. For that reason alone, the film is worth seeing but it is also backed by a fantastic and suspenseful story as well. And then there is that final reveal which just put me through the roof and left me thinking of that one friend who showed me The Sixth Sense all those years ago and how much I feel she needs to see this movie now. I may just have to repay that favor all these years later.