Split is a 2017 psychological horror film. Written and
directed by M. Night Shyamalan (Signs, The Visit), the film stars James McAvoy
(X-Men, Filth), Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch) and Betty Buckley (Carrie). The
film premiered at Fantastic Fest 2016.
The film follows Kevin Wendell Crumb (McAvoy), a sufferer of
dissociative identity disorder and home to 23 distinct personalities. After
kidnapping Casey (Taylor-Joy) and her 2 teenage friends, his personalities
begin to shuffle whilst they are being held captive in his basement. His most
dominant personality Barry (an effeminate fashion student) attends regular
therapy sessions with Dr Fletcher (Buckley). However, as she suspects, other
personalities are starting to take over “the light” including the surly Dennis,
motherly Miss Patricia and childlike Hedwig. As Dr Fletcher struggles to
pinpoint the shifting personalities, a 24th personality “The Beast”
begins to form, placing the captive girls in terrible danger.
Split is a great concept, but it’s also an ambitious one and
the tone of the film is regularly in flux between high concept thriller and schlocky
b-movie. That the film turned out as good as it did is a credit to McAvoy who
gives an impressive, if slightly pantomime, performance demonstrating his versatility
and retaining his “proper actor” reputation, even in genre films. Shyamalan has
crafted a tight script that rarely lags as the tension is kept ramped up at all
times and his technical abilities make maximum use of the dingy basement setting.
The sound design, particularly towards the end, is excellent and helps the film
reach nauseating levels of tension.
The strength of the movie is also its biggest drawback, it
is a one man show. The teenage characters are entirely superfluous and,
although bold characterisation attempts were made for Taylor-Joy’s character, I
found it difficult to care about any of them and eager to see which personality
McAvoy would unveil next. Similarly, the Dr Fletcher character is there to
provide the Basil exposition and gets lumbered with some of the most wooden
pseudo-scientific dialogue in the film. Shyamalan has once again opted to
forego his traditional shock twist in favour of a more subtle revelation,
however, as I haven’t seen the film that it relates to, I can’t speak to its
effectiveness. As with “The Visit” it wisely chooses not to hinge its entire
plot on a third act twist, but rather, throws in a little something extra at
the end for people that care.
A taut and effective psychological thriller that weaves a
convoluted plot around a towering central performance, with more than a few
forays into silly territory (zoo Animal hybrid anyone?). Shyamalan never quite
decides whether he wants to base his central character in reality or use the
film’s key hook, the DID, to craft a supernatural villain. Go into the cinema
with a cheesy, exploitation mindset and you’ll lose yourself in McAvoys
performance and have a great time. If you go in expecting a clever and complex
film with everything wrapped up in a neat package by the end, then you expect
too much of M. Night Shyamalan.
**** 4 Stars
What did you think of the film? What did you think of James
McAvoy’s performance?
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