| Split (2016) | |
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Rating: 7.3/10 (546,671 votes) Director: M. Night Shyamalan Writer: M. Night Shyamalan Stars: James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Haley Lu Richardson Runtime: 117 min Rated: PG-13 Genre: Horror, Thriller Released: 20 Jan 2017 |
| Plot: Three girls are kidnapped by a man with a diagnosed 23 distinct personalities. They must try to escape before the apparent emergence of a frightful new 24th. | |
M Night Shyamalan was revered as one of the freshest directors around when he started his foray onto the big screen. Compared by some to greats such as Alfred Hitchcock, his twists and surprises in films such as Sixth Sense and Unbreakable thrilled and engaged audiences. Signs was a bit of a misstep and the first sign that maybe something was wrong, and whilst I have a lot of love for The Village (I feel it is his strongest story), I find it harder to defend Lady in the Water. Since then films like The Happening and Last Airbender have resulted in his name being something to sneer at, which I think is a shame, and I’ve always held out hope that he would get back to doing what he does best – simple character based dramas that have something a bit different, supernatural, or quirky about them. Well, with Split, he has not only delivered exactly that, but has also delivered one of the best films in his career.
James McAvoy plays Kevin, a man with 23 different personalities, who abducts 3 teenage girls. Whilst being kept captive, the girls start to notice the different personalities, and slowly learn the reason why they have been taken – they are to aid in preparing the way for a 24th personality to arrive.
There’s a fair bit more to the plot than just that, but this is one of those films where even a minor detail can be a huge spoiler, and suffice to say the film plays out the story well, with a few twists and turns (and a few predictable moments), leading to a satisfactory conclusion which will leave audiences wanting more, but in a good way. Yes, the guy who was once seen as the master of the twist has returned to the style of film-making that he gave us all those years ago, and delivers not only a solid thriller, but one which the twist demands you go back to re-watch the whole thing to see other clues related to it.
The true strength of the film, however, comes from the performance -nay, performances, as he does effectively play multiple roles – of James McAvoy, who in the multiple roles of Kevin and his personalities, effortless transposes from one to another with ease. You can tell at first glance which personality is dominant through subtle body language, or slights of the eyes. One scene in particular sees him switch from one to another in a therapy session, and McAvoy seems to become a totally different person on screen in the one shot. McAvoy is in his element here, getting an opportunity to really demonstrate the skill at characterisations that he has shown us in films such as Filth and Trance, and his presence serves the film well. The rest of the cast are well placed also, even if they are just support to the main role, except for Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey, the mysterious loner of the abducted girls, who gets time to show some backstory and is the only one sharp enough to play against Kevin. Showing the same level of skill she showed in her breakthrough role in The Witch, Taylor-Joy gives a convincing element to that old cliché of troubled-heroine.
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Shayamalan, after a decade of bigger and bigger budgets that failed to deliver, has returned to the lower budget intensity of his earlier career. Last year saw The Visit, filmed for a low $5million, clock almost $100million at the box office, whilst also turning opinions of the director around critically. This film solidifies the return to form, and maybe highlights how a lower budget allows him to be create with the practicality of the story. Heck, even his small cameo in the film (for there is one, as we have come to expect), doesn’t get in the way and actually feels like a nice inclusion as a result. All in all, Split is a great piece of work, with a touch of Hitchcockian suspense, slight horror, and, of course, a twist that will have people talking afterwards. This is a film to see before anyone ruins the surprise.
