M. Night Shyamalan has been threatening a return to form for years now, with middling success. It was a long and uneventful fall from grace for the director, which began with The Village and continued throughout the years until redemption seemed impossible. 2015’s The Visit, however, showed a tiny spark of the Shyamalan that was without quite bringing him back into good graces.
A marriage between Shyamalan and Jason Blum—whose Blumhouse Productions, the current standard bearers of mass marketed horror, produced the film—The Visit did seem to reinvigorate the director’s career, somewhat. As corny and predictable as that film was, it was also difficult to deny that it felt like a new beginning for Shyamalan after a decade of misses turned him into a joke.
That marriage continues now with Split, which is easily Shyamalan’s best film since Signs. Split is Shyamalan at his most bold, and while the film is a bit bloated and filled with unnecessary moments and more than its share of cheesy dialogue, it serves as a decent reminder of what the director can be capable of or, at least, what he used to be capable of.
James McAvoy (X-Men: Apocalype) stars as Kevin, a man suffering from multiple-personality disorder, with 23 distinct personalities existing in his psyche, three of whom—the OCD Dennis, the matronly Patricia, and the 9-year-old Hedwig—have gone bad. The three personalities plot to kidnap three teenage girls, Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy, The Witch), Claire (Haley Lu Richardson, The Edge of Seventeen), and Marcia (Jessica Sula, Honeytrap). Locked away in a basement, the three girls must figure out a way to freedom, all while a new personality, known only as The Beast, begins to make itself known within Kevin.
Multiple-personality stories are always a little silly even when they’re good. There are a lot of misconceptions about the disorder that get played up in order to tell a decent yarn, and this one is no different. There’s a lot you have to be willing to accept in order to appreciate the story being told here, and to Shyamalan’s credit, he does a good job at selling his premise.
McAvoy and Taylor-Joy are both wildly enjoyable and turn in amazing performances. McAvoy in particular, who of course plays multiple characters throughout the film, is amazing to watch as he gives each personality a life of their own, often to horrifying effect. Taylor-Joy, meanwhile, finally lives up to the promise she showed in last year’s The Witch. Casey is a classic horror protagonist, one who wins audience cheers through her intelligence and resourcefulness.
Split is at its best when these two are interacting, and thankfully that’s most of the movie. However, at just under two hours long, there are a lot of moments that drag down the narrative and disrupt the overall flow of the film. At a lean 90-100 minutes, Split might have even been a great movie. At 120, the best it ever gets is pretty good.
Still, the final 20 minutes or so almost make up for the unnecessary moments from earlier in the film, and produces some genuine scares. The Beast, once unveiled, is kind of terrifying, and McAvoy pulls it off. It’s all enhanced by Shyamalan’s directing, which is as strong as it’s been since Unbreakable. There are some beautiful shots and well-orchestrated moments throughout Split that remind us all of why Shyamalan was such a fun director in the first place.
If there’s a weakness it’s in the script, which is at times too unfocused and silly for its own good. Writing has always been Shyamalan’s weak point as a filmmaker, and in the hands of less talented stars, Split would’ve ripped apart at the seams. As it stands, it all holds together well enough, even if you do roll your eyes more than a couple of times.
In the end, Split is Shyamalan’s most solid yarn in years. It’s a flawed film that works in spite of itself, but when it works it’s top notch. We may not ever get the Shyamalan of Signs or Unbreakable once again, but if this is a forebear of what’s to come, then we’re in for a fun ride. Maybe that’s the best we can hope for. Maybe that’s all we really need.
Split is now playing in theaters everywhere.
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