Split: Movie Review

After years of becoming a running-joke to moviegoers with such abysmal offerings such as “The Happening”, “The Last Airbender”, and “After Earth”, M. Night Shyamalan delivered his first hit in over a decade with “The Visit”.  The writer/director once again teams-up with Blumhouse for the new thriller, “Split”.  It is clear to me now that Shyamalan has a better grasp on budgeted thrillers over large scale spectacles.  This doesn’t mean “Split” is perfect, but the mostly isolated setting and fantastic performances help make this one of the better films to start out a new year.

“Split” begins with three teenage girls, Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy), Claire (Haley Lu Richardson), and Marcia (Jessica Sula) being drugged and abducted by a stranger (James McAvoy).  When the girls awaken, they find themselves locked in a room and shortly after that they learn that their captor has multiple personalities.  The personality responsible for the abduction is Dennis who suffers from OCD and has a thing for under-aged girls.  Another personality is Patricia who clearly supports Dennis’ mysterious plans.  There is also the personality of 9-year-old Hedwig who pops up every so often to talk with the girls.

McAvoy delivers one of the best performances I have seen in years and it’s a shame that the film was released at the start of the New Year, because he deserves some award consideration here. Unfortunately, movies of this type are largely ignored. “Split” itself isn’t all that great to me.  I liked it, but I found it to be slow in stretches.  McAvoy is the main attraction here and he alone is worth the price of admission.

Although my feelings are a bit mixed in the film as-a-whole, I do want this to be a major hit at the box office, for one main reason. “Split” has a massive surprise in its’ final moments and that one element got me all kinds of excited.  I would be a total ass if I ruined it for you so you just have to see it for yourself.

By: Marc Ferman