"SPLIT" REVIEW: M. NIGHT IS BACK, BABY!!

 
    *Let me just start by saying that it will be impossible for me to discuss this film without going into spoiler territory. I will save the spoiler stuff towards the end of the review where I will place another warning should you read this review before seeing the movie. Everything up to that point will be spoiler free. I urge you to see this movie as soon as possible in order to not have it spoiled for you because, man...it's a doozy!

   It's no mistaking that the name M. Night Shyamalan (as of late) has become synonymous to the public with terrible movies. Let me warn you, I am a HUGE Shyamalan fan, and if that means my view might be a bit biased, well, so be it. I like to think that I can be open-minded, and I am fully aware that all of his films are not "good" in the common movie-goer sense, despite my liking them all. The man has had an interesting career, one that can easily be tracked through the films he's made. The Sixth Sense was and is a masterpiece in my book. It introduced the world to the "Shyamalan Twist," a term coined and still used today. These twists are unique in that the idea behind them is to completely dismantle your current thinking about the movie. Not all of his twists work, but they're still a staple of his projects. The Sixth Sense blew people's minds, and his follow up in Unbreakable is one of his best overall, subverting the superhero story into a small, tightly-contained narrative grounded in reality, with the twist working to solidify that idea. As his filmography continues, narratives have suffered and production has suffered, while audiences became unaffected by his twists. Even power house names like Mark Wahlberg and Will Smith couldn't save the movies they were in.

   When Shyamalan made The Visit, a very effective thriller shot in the vein of found footage scary flicks like Paranormal Activity, The Blair Witch Project, and Project Almanac, people began to think that maybe, just maybe he might be turning a corner. Away from the corporate overlords of big studios and large IPs, Shyamalan returned to his roots of making his own original content on a smaller scale, and it worked. The Visit was great. It showcased fun cinematography, great acting, a disturbing story, and a fun but not too crazy Shyamalan Twist. But the true test would come with his follow up to The Visit, and let me tell you...with Split, Shyamalan is back. Without any hesitation and putting bias aside, Split is Shyamalan's best film since Signs, and from the moment the movie ended I was clamoring to watch it again. There's a particular reason for that, which I'll get to in my spoiler section.

   Kevin (James McAvoy) is a man with Dissociative Identity Disorder. Twenty-three identities live inside his body. He kidnaps three girls, who then must find a way to convince one of the personalities to help them escape, while also trying to stay alive from the other personalities. They soon learn that they've been captured as a gift for The Beast, a possible twenty-fourth personality wanting to emerge. While keeping them hostage, Kevin often visits his psychologist Dr. Karen Fletcher (Betty Buckley) who wants to not only help Kevin deal with his disorder, but bring awareness to the community of the grander aspects that can occur when the body and mind fully accept the reality presented with each personality. It's a trippy concept. One of Kevin's personalities has diabetes, one has high cholesterol, one has a hard time seeing and needs glasses, all of these aspects bring a level of intrigue when looking at Kevin as a character. And in typical Shyamalan fashion, he pushes the question further: what happens if one of the personalities believes they have supernatural powers? Does that manifest?

  It's a shame this movie didn't come out in December because James McAvoy deserves to be nominated for an Oscar. I'm 100% serious. The man plays eight different characters, often times within minutes of each other, and he does so without compromising individuality. This is his movie, and every time he's on screen it's astounding. Each character he plays is so different from the next that he loses himself completely in each and every one. You feel like these are distinct, different individuals with their own set of quirks and mannerisms. From the way he talks to his physicality and overall perspective, McAvoy and Shyamalan have crafted an insane character in Kevin that is just brilliant. This movie rides heavily on the believability that these personalities exist within Kevin. To have that much weight in a film is no easy task, and McAvoy proves that not only could he handle it, but in doing so he shows that he truly is one of the more underrated actors of our day.

   The supporting cast is pretty good. Betty Buckley (the scary old lady from The Happening) is great as Kevin's doctor, and brings that sense of reason and balance to the heaviness of Kevin's story. Of the three girls that are abducted, Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy) is our primary character that we follow. The other two are unfortunately forgettable characters, and the actresses that play them do an okay job. Anya Taylor-Joy is one of the best up-and-coming actresses of her generation. She was the stand out in The Witch, and even though the movie Morgan wasn't all that great she still shined in her performance. The character of Casey is pivotal in the overall story arc and we learn a lot about her from jarring, somewhat misplaced flashbacks. Even though they seemed sprinkled in at odd moments, just go with it because by the climax of the movie it will all make sense. Next to McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy is really great in the movie.

   The production of this film is really well done. The cinematography is fantastic; the sense of dread, claustrophobia and suspense just drip from every frame. Shyamalan, despite what flaws he may have in his storytelling at times, always delivers a beautiful film. He commissioned the talents of cinematographer Mike Gioulakis who worked on the creepy film It Follows, and together they crafted a really tense and gorgeous film. The score is equally amazing. It's almost dismissive, but in a good way? Like, you don't even recognize it's there until suddenly, BOOM! Plus, there is a moment in the score that leads up to a pivotal moment, which I will discuss in my spoiler section. Overall though, the movie is solid, and I cannot recommend it enough. For fans of Shyamalan that have stuck with him, you won't be disappointed. Split, I don't think, will be a movie for everyone. That being said I still think everyone should see it. It's disturbing, tense, scary, funny, and entertaining from start to finish. Shyamalan is back and by movie's end, it makes me excited to see what comes next.

SPOILER SECTION

*I WILL BE DISCUSSING SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON, MAINLY THE TWIST TO THE FILM, SO IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE YET, STOP HERE! THEN COME BACK AND ENJOY MY NERDY RANT!

 
   The one thing I haven't talked about up to this point is the twist. In films like The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and The Village, the movie moves along with the narrative while you as an audience member take in what is being told and shown to you. By the end, you have a decent grasp of what the movie is and what it's trying to do. Then, he pulls the rug out from under you and throws in a twist that makes you completely re-think the entire narrative. It doesn't take away from the film, nor does it diminish the story you were originally invested in. In contrast, it actually heightens it, making you want to go back and re-watch the film in order to see how it all fits. Upon a second viewing you see the movie in a completely different light and it still blows your mind.

   There's a moment in this movie where I was a little apprehensive. Split toys with various genres. It feels like a psychological thriller, while also feeling like a horror film and a supernatural movie, too. You might think this is confusing, but I just implore you to roll with it. Throughout the movie there's reference to The Beast, this persona of Kevin's that is animalistic. It can apparently climb walls, has heightened strength, and impenetrable skin. This idea spurns from the overall idea of his disorder, that if the body and mind truly believe in this persona, a chemical reaction would occur to create this persona - the same idea behind why one personality has diabetes, etc. Well, it happens. The Beast arrives and at one moment he's climbing up a wall like some ferrel creature. Before this moment there really was no evidence given to suggest that this movie would indeed slip into a supernatural story, so even though I was creeped out, I was like "how does this fit in?"

   At the end of the movie, multiple personalities of Kevin are discussing the idea that the broken and damaged are the more powerful. The final scene takes place in a diner where a news report is talking about Kevin's escape and that due to his overpowering personalities that he has taken on the name The Hoard. At this moment, the score in the movie changes and I couldn't quite put my finger on it at the time, but I knew I had heard it before. A woman makes the comment that The Hoard reminds her of another crazy guy that got arrested who had a weird name she couldn't remember; a guy...in a wheel chair. Then, Bruce Willis' voice answers her, saying that name was Mr. Glass. Then we see Bruce Willis as David Dunn from Unbreakable sitting next to her! *MIND BLOWN*

   The score I had heard that I thought was familiar was the score from Unbreakable. All of a sudden, the entire movie takes on a much larger aspect. This movie is in the same universe as Shyamalan's superhero film Unbreakable, and all at once it hit me why the supernatural aspect was in there. M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN IS WORLD-BUILDING!!! Immediately I wanted to re-watch Split to see all of the subtle hints that led to this, and trust me they're in there. I thought of a few on the way home, but MAN!! Heck of a twist! Maybe this means his next film will be Unbreakable 2! At any rate, it's a great time to be a fan of M. Night Shyamalan.