Split

For those of you, who have seen a lot of films over the years, if i mention the name M. Night Shyamalan, what would you think of first ? I am pretty sure that his film The Sixth Sense comes to mind. And for a very good reason. The Sixth Sense is still today a classic supernatural horror film, and one of the films where actor Bruce Willis did a wonderful performance, far away from his usual action genre. The Sixth Sense was unique, since we have never seen a story before, where a child can see dead people, in this particular way that the character Cole Sear ( wonderful performance by Haley Joel Osment ) did. After the great success with this film, director Shyamalan went on a very rough path. He did make some good films like Unbreakable and Signs, but somehow i think we noticed that he was trying very different ideas. My first memory of where he started to hit the wrong keys, was in the film Lady In The Water. The story, surrounding the character Cleveland Hepp ( done by legendary actor Paul Giamatti ), who discover a Naiad ( Nymth ) in the apartment complex where he lives. This is a very odd film, that did not really manage to function all the way.  Shyamalan continued his path with odd choices, especially with The Happening with Mark Wahlberg. This film actually started off good, but the ending destroyed everything. I will say that the ending in The Happening is so stupid, i have no idea why Shyamalan decided to go that way. For years to come we got films that did not really give us anything, and he hit rock bottom with the disaster sci fi action film After Earth with Will Smith. Let me say this, if you want to experience what depression feels like, then you watch After Earth. It is that kind of film no one should see, simply because it is so awful i can´t even describe what it is about. Luckily, after years of bad choices, director M. Night Shyamalan decided to go back to making smaller films, and in the 2015 film The Visit, we got ourselves a surprise. A found footage horror film, that actually turned out to be good, if you compare to many of his previous films. It seemed that Shyamalan was back on track, and then i started hearing he was going to work with actor James McAvoy on a new film called Split. This sounded interesting, because James McAvoy is a really good actor. if you have not seen him in the insane film Filth, go out and buy the blu ray. With a talented director, and a solid actor on board, is Split finally the great film we all have waited Shyamalan to make, or is this back to his forgettable work such as After Earth ?

Kevin Wendell Crumb ( James McAvoy ), a victim of childhood abuse, is diagnosed with personality disorder. It is believed that he have 23 different personalities, where one of them is called " Dennis ". Kevin´s psychiatrist Dr. Karen Fletcher ( Betty Buckley ), who exhibit psychological profiles, is concerned to find an e-mail from one of Kevin´s personalities called "Barry ", asking for a meeting. Over the years, Dr. Karen have come to the conclusion, that people like Kevin can overcome their disabilities, through moving to different personalities. But it is especially one of these personalities where Kevin is very dangerous, as the person known as " Dennis ". When he is " Dennis ", he have violent tendencies obsessive - compulsive disorder. What Dr Karen does not know, is that Kevin has kidnapped three young women, Claire Benoit ( Hayley Lu Richardson ), Marcia ( Jessica Sula ) and Casey Cooke ( Anya Taylor - Joy ). He keeps them locked up in a secret location, where his different personalities come forward on different occasions. Casey is the one who notice that Kevin have different personalities, and she tries to adjust to his behavior, but will they manage to survive if "Dennis " really loose his control ?

We might as well make one thing straight. This is not the strongest film by director M. Nigh Shyalaham. On the other hand, it is his best film since Unbreakable, so he is without a doubt on his way back to making quality films again. Split is the kind of thriller/horror film, that will be appreciated by the fans of Brian De Palmas classic 90´s film Raising Cain. Split and Raising Cain are 2 different films, but they do have one thing in common. Both the main characters have multiple personality disorder. While John Lithgow gave us a strong performance in Raising Cain, it is clear that actor James McAvoy have really worked hard on his ( characters ). To be able to play several different personalities, in different ages, and manage to show how a person who have personality disorder, is a very difficult process. But this is where James McAvoy really show us his amazing acting abilities. I would clearly say that he is the strongest advantage to the film Split, that he lifts this film on a different quality level. The story itself is something we have seen before, a very disturbed man kidnap and lock up women. The difference with this film, if we compare to some similar stories, is that the personality disorder gets more room, so we can understand more what it actually might look like. We also have a strong performance from actor Anna Taylor-Joy. You might have seen her in films like The Witch, Morgan or critically acclaimed Barry. Her character Casey Cooke is a strong woman, and also one of the reasons why Split becomes interesting from a psychological perspective. When we found out, the different people that James McAvoy character Kevin have hidden within himself, it becomes chillingly creepy. Just imagine listening to 23 different personalities through one human body, very strange and bizarre. Director M. Night Shyamalan have managed to make a very interesting look, into a disturbing mind of so many different personalities. Since he have made some terrible films in the past, and finally got back on his feet with The Visit, we can clearly see that Split shows his potential as a great director. He manage to build up tensions, between the victims, and the clearly disturbed man Kevin. I will also say that Split manage to lift up some interesting characters, through the personality disorder of Kevin. If you appreciate psychological thrillers, that digs deep into the mind of disturbed humans, then you will enjoy Split. Now we can clearly say welcome back to Shyamalan, with Split he proves that he found his way to the right path.

Rating: DDD