M. Night Shyamalan is officially back and better than ever with his new horror/thriller hybrid, Split. Returning to his supernatural roots and back in fine form doing so, here he seemingly writes and directs an intensely entertaining and unpredictable film with ease. With the always brilliant James McAvoy stepping into the lead as a man living with 23 incredibly different personalities within him (not all of which get along), this truly thrilling and completely engaging story serves as both testament to the sheer talent of McAvoy’s versatility as one of the best actors working today and reassurance of originality still going strong in the modern age of filmmaking.
Kevin (McAvoy), victim of child abuse and severe sufferer of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) hasn’t been himself for years. With 23 different identities ranging from a haunting man with violent tendencies to an enthusiastic nine-year-old boy to a dangerously mysterious woman all living within his mind and body. He spends majority of time in the dominant form of ‘Barry’, the sanest of the group who is also in charge of who comes in and out of ‘the light’ (control over the body). When one such sinister personality kidnaps three teenage girls in broad daylight to hold captive in an underground bunker for unknown reasons and another tries to warn Kevin’s psychiatrist Dr. Karen Fletcher (Betty Buckley) of what he’s done, Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy), Claire (Haley Lu Richardson) and Marcia (Jessica Sula) all find themselves subject to the many different frightening faces of Kevin’s disorder with each attempt to escape capture resulting in failure and twist after turn promising the imminent arrival of a twenty-fourth personality, said to be demonic in nature.
Crushing one persona after the other with expert line delivery and varied mannerisms for each, McAvoy is on fire shedding any and all pre-conceived notions of what his character may or may not be. He has fully immersed himself into an obviously demanding role where intrigue, intimidation, playfulness and suspense all feed into pieces of a jigsaw puzzle we as audience are left to figure out.
Matched only by Buckley as Dr. Fletcher – a sincere elderly woman who wants nothing more than to help Kevin and whose continuous fight for his disorder to be globally recognised is debunked – Taylor-Joy nails it as social outcast Casey, the main focal point of the three girls. With a heavily traumatic past and having dealt with things no young girl should, her complicated and well written character is given life through a stellar performance, which standing out from the rest as a highlight of the film, ensures the young actress a solid spot in the ranks of up and coming stars to look out for in future projects.
With an eerie tone and impressive colour palette spread throughout the movie, two or three genres are meshed together skilfully, balancing frights with humour and flashes of terror to solidify Shyamalan’s best picture since 2002’s Signs as nothing short of an exciting psychological thriller that sits a par above the rest.
Featuring difficult yet interestingly well told themes and shedding light on a real life disorder at the same time entertaining your socks off, this is the type of film almost impossible to talk about without giving away too much or uncovering the blanket of secrets hidden within. Each scene littered with details and clues to keep you guessing until the ultimate pay off is revealed, this is a flick that’ll stimulate your senses whilst reminding you films released this early in the year are never this good.
After over a decade of duds, M. Night Shyamalan is the prodigal son to return in full swing cementing his place as one of the masters of the thriller genre. Worth viewing alone for a scene in which McAvoy delivers a hilariously excellent trance inspired dance, Split is the film for you.
