Hey there everyone, welcome to my review on the film Split. This is a horror/ thriller done by director M. Night Shyamalan, best known for his hit movies, The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs. I have been a big fan of M. Night for a long time. His unique movie making style is something that resonated with a lot of people at the beginning of his career. Unfortunately M. Night has had a long streak of really bad movies for about the past decade, so I was a little hesitant about this one. Knowing nothing about Split going into it I think really helped me to enjoy it more than I might have otherwise, as is the case with most films.
This is a film starring James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy. McAvoy plays "Kevin" who has multiple personality disorder, everything from a little kid, to a woman, a man with OCD, twenty-three different personalities. McAvoy is such an amazing actor that he really pulls off all the different distinct roles and does so believably. I can't say enough about this guy, every movie he's in, he's always the high point for me. M. Night chose wisely when casting James McAvoy as he has the acting chops to pull off twenty-three characters without it seeming silly. This guy is a brilliant actor.
Anya Taylor-Joy plays Casey, a girl who has had a terribly traumatic childhood and as a result is very introverted and shy. She is now a young adult and is trying to make friends with two girls from school, so they take a trip to the mall together. When they get in the car to leave Kevin is lurking outside, he sees the three girls and gets in the car with them, spraying them in the face with some kind of knockout gas and abducts them. When the girls awake they find themselves in a sealed up room with no way to escape, they have no idea where they are or who this man is. When Kevin enters the room to greet the three girls they notice his appearance and personality has completely changed. Sometimes he comes in as a strict no nonsense type of man, other times as his child persona Hedwig, or his female persona.
Kevin snaps between his 23 different personalities slowly losing control over himself, and all the while talking about a supposed 24th persona that is more powerful than any man could possibly be. The tension escalates as the movie goes along with Kevin becoming more and more unhinged, and the girls desperately looking for a way to escape. Until finally coming to a really disturbing yet intriguing third act. I'm trying not to spoil anything so I'm staying as vague as possible here.
James McAvoy gives an amazing performance in this film and I think he's the reason I enjoyed it so much. Some of the plot is a little dark and disturbing and might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it is a horror / thriller after all so you should expect some of that. Anya Taylor-Joy also does a wonderful job at standing out of the crew of the three girls. I'm not that familiar with her acting but I did enjoy her performance in The Witch, another slow burn horror film that I loved recently. In classic M. Night Shyamalan fashion there is a little twist at the very end of the movie, and if you're a fan of some of his older films you should easily notice it. I was very excited to see it and look forward to where this is going next. This movie does a great job of building the tension more and more until the end. I enjoyed Split quite a bit and I think this is M. Night's best work in many years. If you're a fan of his then you should definitely check this one out. I give Split an....
A-
Thank you for reading my review of the movie Split, I hope you enjoyed it!
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