M. Night Shyamalan's Split is a film built around its sense of mystery and intrigue, a unique horror story about a man suffering from severe multiple personality disorder, who kidnaps three teenage girls one day in broad daylight. Intentionally evasive when it comes to the details surrounding its characters, both in its antagonist, Kevin, the man whose mind is constantly up from grabs by 24 unique personalities, and Casey, one of the kidnapped girls, a social outcast who herself seems to have a mysterious past, Split's narrative compellingly unravels, offering up a unique slice of fantasy horror that should appease most viewers who are simply looking for something different from the genre While Split is far from an astute study of mental illness or the toxic effect which trauma can have on the human psyche, M. Night Shyamalan has crafted a compelling blend of supernatural horror and mental health introspection, with the divisive filmmaker not relying solely on twists or reveals like so many of his past films, instead letting the sound storytelling unravel the sense of intrigue, keeping the viewer guessing from start to finish about the outcome while never promising any type of shocking twist, something which began to plague the talented horror filmmaker due to his self-induced, predictable formula. While Shyamalan's direction effectively elevates the tension of this story from start to finish, it's James McAvoy's memorable performance that truly stands out in Split, a tour-de-force showing by the talented actor whose chameleon-like ability to move from personality-to-personality elevates the electric, unpredictable nature of the story. Without going into details, Split is a film that thematically plays with the convergence of the supernatural and natural world, a film that pays off its supernatural elements with a clever conclusion that doesn't feel cheap or tagged on as much as it may appear to the casual viewer, thematically linking itself to one of Shyamalan's other efforts, Unbreakable, where the barriers between the supernatural and reality are shattered. Far from a perfect film, Split is a welcomed return for the divisive filmmaker, a film that sees Shyamalan trust in his story and thematics more so than cheap twists, unraveling his narrative with a constant and steady dose of tension and intrigue.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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