Split - directed by M. Night Shyamalan
The films of M. Night Shyamalan are tricky to discuss.
Obviously he is well known for twist endings so that in itself is a minefield one has to walk through for fear of spoiling anything.
Hell, the fact that there is a twist ending is in itself a spoiler of sorts.
Additionally the films tend to be rather moody pieces and it can be difficult to put into words what the film is doing without again spoiling things.
I liked "The Sixth Sense", loved "Unbreakable" and thought very highly of "Signs" but everything after that from Shyamalan has left me cold.
There was often a bunch of good ideas in the likes of "The Happening" and "The Village" but often the need for a cool twist ending hobbled the entire thing and it felt like Shyamalan was a spent force.
Which leads us to "Split" which by any measure is a return to some sort of form.
It opened to a better than expected $40,000,000 has received mostly positive reviews.
I would imagine that any first year psychologist could rip apart the central conceit of "Split" but then that is true of everything from "Psycho" to "The Silence of the Lambs" - two movies that actually could well have been an influence on this one.
Kevin (James McAvoy) suffers from a disorder than gives him 23 distinct personalities.
He is seeing a doctor (Betty Buckley) who appears to have a good grip on the situation but is completely unaware that there may be a 24th personality and additionally one of the personalities has kidnapped three young women.
Said women are locked up in some sort of secure building.
The key to their survival could be to appeal to the right personalities within Kevin.
So begins a psychological game between the women lead mainly by Casey who seems to be able to connect with a couple of Kevin's personalities.
This entire movie rests on the performances of McAvoy playing nine of the personalities and of Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey - for want of a better expression the damsel in distress.
Both are perfectly cast and anyone who has seen previous work from either will probably be unsurprised at this.
McAvoy is required to not only play multiple unique personalities but often has to play one pretending to be another.
Not a small ask but he rise to the challenge nicely and I was not for moment confused except for at those times that I was supposed to be.
He seemed to me to be drawing on performances from other films.
I detected a little Ray Liotta on one... a touch of Buffalo Bill from "The Silence of the Lambs" in another.
And Hedwig - the child personality is maybe his best. His overuse of the word 'etc' and his tendency to sandwich one idea within an other when speaking it brilliant.
It's a terrific performance and a blast to watch.
Equally good is Anya Taylor-Joy who was so good in "The Witch".
Hers is a conflicted, unusually cold character whose behaviour is slowly explained by way of flashbacks.
Obviously a lot of the success of any film is the pleasure in watching the story unfold but as always with M. Night Shyamalan the plot and whatever twists it may or may not have are often paramount.
This one is no exeption.
It offers up a bunch of answers but with each one it seems that two new questions arise.
The script is pretty clever at diverting your attention away from some questions that arise late in the film.
A couple I kicked myself for not considering but they turned out to be very important in making the last half hour as good as it is.
For anyone disappointed with Shyamalan's work since "Signs" this films ultimate reveal is likely to redeem him in your eyes very nicely indeed.
It certainly did for me.
This is the Shyamalan of old for sure but with a little more reserve.
My favourite Tarantino movie is "Inglorious Basterds" and much of that is to do with his ditching of the pop culture references and self indulgent bloat that was threatening to turn his work into self parody.
I feel the same about "Split" and Shyamalan albeit in a different way.
He has always been a confident filmmaker but with a lot of what you expect from his films removed with "Split" he reveals a confidence more about his characters and their nuances rather than a plot that challenges the viewer to guess what the big twist is.
But having said that - if you think you know what you're getting you are probably in for a real surprise anyway.
RATING: 82 / 100
CONCLUSION: A nice return to form this movie is best seen knowing as little about it as possible. See it as soon as you can before its secret delights are revealed.
Starring: James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Betty Buckley, Haley Lu Richardson, Jessica Sula, Neal huff, Sebastian Arcelus, Izzie Coffey, Brad William Henke, M. Night Shyamalan
Screenplay: M. Night Shyamalan
Music Score by: West Dylan Thordson
Cinematography: Mike Gioulakis
Edited by: Luke Franco Ciarrocchi
Running Time: 117 minutes
Language: English
Rated: M - Violence and Profanity - both mild
Running Time: 117 minutes
Language: English
Rated: M - Violence and Profanity - both mild
Obviously he is well known for twist endings so that in itself is a minefield one has to walk through for fear of spoiling anything.
Hell, the fact that there is a twist ending is in itself a spoiler of sorts.
Additionally the films tend to be rather moody pieces and it can be difficult to put into words what the film is doing without again spoiling things.
I liked "The Sixth Sense", loved "Unbreakable" and thought very highly of "Signs" but everything after that from Shyamalan has left me cold.
There was often a bunch of good ideas in the likes of "The Happening" and "The Village" but often the need for a cool twist ending hobbled the entire thing and it felt like Shyamalan was a spent force.
Which leads us to "Split" which by any measure is a return to some sort of form.
It opened to a better than expected $40,000,000 has received mostly positive reviews.
I would imagine that any first year psychologist could rip apart the central conceit of "Split" but then that is true of everything from "Psycho" to "The Silence of the Lambs" - two movies that actually could well have been an influence on this one.
Kevin (James McAvoy) suffers from a disorder than gives him 23 distinct personalities.
He is seeing a doctor (Betty Buckley) who appears to have a good grip on the situation but is completely unaware that there may be a 24th personality and additionally one of the personalities has kidnapped three young women.
Said women are locked up in some sort of secure building.
The key to their survival could be to appeal to the right personalities within Kevin.
So begins a psychological game between the women lead mainly by Casey who seems to be able to connect with a couple of Kevin's personalities.
 |
| James McAvoy with the great Betty Buckley at far right |
Both are perfectly cast and anyone who has seen previous work from either will probably be unsurprised at this.
McAvoy is required to not only play multiple unique personalities but often has to play one pretending to be another.
Not a small ask but he rise to the challenge nicely and I was not for moment confused except for at those times that I was supposed to be.
He seemed to me to be drawing on performances from other films.
I detected a little Ray Liotta on one... a touch of Buffalo Bill from "The Silence of the Lambs" in another.
And Hedwig - the child personality is maybe his best. His overuse of the word 'etc' and his tendency to sandwich one idea within an other when speaking it brilliant.
It's a terrific performance and a blast to watch.
Equally good is Anya Taylor-Joy who was so good in "The Witch".
Hers is a conflicted, unusually cold character whose behaviour is slowly explained by way of flashbacks.
 |
| Anya Taylor-Joy and far right Jessica Sula and Haley Lu Richardson (The Edge of Seventeen) |
This one is no exeption.
It offers up a bunch of answers but with each one it seems that two new questions arise.
The script is pretty clever at diverting your attention away from some questions that arise late in the film.
A couple I kicked myself for not considering but they turned out to be very important in making the last half hour as good as it is.
For anyone disappointed with Shyamalan's work since "Signs" this films ultimate reveal is likely to redeem him in your eyes very nicely indeed.
It certainly did for me.
This is the Shyamalan of old for sure but with a little more reserve.
My favourite Tarantino movie is "Inglorious Basterds" and much of that is to do with his ditching of the pop culture references and self indulgent bloat that was threatening to turn his work into self parody.
I feel the same about "Split" and Shyamalan albeit in a different way.
He has always been a confident filmmaker but with a lot of what you expect from his films removed with "Split" he reveals a confidence more about his characters and their nuances rather than a plot that challenges the viewer to guess what the big twist is.
But having said that - if you think you know what you're getting you are probably in for a real surprise anyway.
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