Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!
Plot Summary: Three girls are kidnapped by a man with 23 different personalities, intending the girls to become food for an emerging 24th personality.
Review: I'll be completely honest, when I initially saw the trailer for this movie I thought it looked un-fucking-believably stupid. I was like, "Oh, god, Night, are you back to the 'Lady in the Water' ideas?" And, wow, I was waaaay off with my vision of what "Split" would be. It sucks because revealing the twist of this film will hurt a viewer's surprise, yet, at the same time, explaining this reveal will probably greatly entice more people to watch the film. Such a dilemma. Oh well, you know how I operate around here! At a glance, the story seems like your typical, psychological thriller fare of a crazed killer who will get defeated by the cliched heroine at the last second. However, we come to learn that the whole movie is essentially an origin story for a villain in the fictional universe of "Unbreakable." Hell yes! Goddamn, people have been clamoring for a sequel to "Unbreakable" for years. And, thankfully, after the success of "Split," we will be getting one too!
Okay, so the connection to "Unbreakable" is fucking fantastic, but that doesn't mean "Split" is nothing without it. Far from that actually. The setup is a total ploy: young girls getting kidnapped by a deranged killer and having to outwit or overcome him somehow...nothing new there. The meat of the action actually involves the kidnapper, a man and his 23 personalities. The gist is that people with dissociative identity disorder are potentially bordering on the height of mind over matter in a supernatural sense. In other words, the personalities are so distinct, so real, that they can warp the body's biological chemistry in a way to bring their own imagination into existence. This translates in the film as the personalities changing the body in a physical way to take the shape they perceive themselves to be. In this instance, the villain has been convinced by his doctor that the personalities are extraordinary and believes in their limitless potential to such a degree that he created a personality specifically that is superhuman. Throughout the story, they build up the arrival of this newest personality, known as the beast, since it wants to eat the girls. You, as the audience, aren't sure how this will realistically unravel, however, Night surprisingly plays it completely straight and the final personality really is a superhuman monster capable of all manner of supernatural abilities. AND he really does eat the girls (well, two of them and a nibble of the third)! That shocked me since I thought they'd totally wimp out in that regard. Of course, once the villain runs off into the sunset to embrace his full power, we later see David Dunn, from "Unbreakable," sitting at a diner watching a news story about this villain while someone mentions the similarity to Mr. Glass.
A major reason why this film succeeds is due to James McAvoy's acting as the personalities. Sure, there are times where the presentation of the personalities are a bit too stupid for my taste, but I understand the effort of making each personality unique for the audience. Mr. McAvoy shows a lot of range between the personalities, and his ability to flip back and forth through them is admirable. Plus, that moment when the original personality, Kevin, finally emerges for mere seconds and just wants to die is perfect. That is the kind of subtlety to a character that impresses me most. In just that fleeting moment, seeing how tired Kevin is, our villain becomes a tragic figure due to his inability to stop himself. But, not to be entirely outdone, our protagonists put in a noble effort too. The main girl, Casey, played by the chick from "The Witch," Anya Taylor-Joy, is somewhat predictable as another tragic character, yet I'm okay with it given the kind of themes that should complement a tale from the "Unbreakable" universe. I mean, in retrospect it makes sense with her name being Casey Cooke and having David Dunn--comic book heroes usually have alliterative names. The way Casey survives also creates a kind of possible bond with the villain we might see in the sequel. Sadly, Casey's sexy friends simply ended up as beast-food! Lastly, I want to address the most unnecessary character: Night himself! Mother fucker, stop doing that shit! Hitchcock walked past the damn camera for a second, he didn't make himself a character in every fucking movie!
Even without the "Unbreakable" connection, this film was still awesome. Established as a straightforward thriller that unsuspectingly transitions into a supernatural horror in an original way--that does take some talent to execute. I love this notion of the personalities becoming so real that they can actually bend reality. As such, the beast personality does become a cool comic book-esque villain that, despite the supernatural context, is just plausible enough to appear possible in that same, reality-based depiction of powers established with "Unbreakable." James McAvoy really impressed me here and carries the story in an epic way; he deserves more credit than a lot of these cornball, pretentious dramas you find at the Oscars. Overall, this was a damn fine movie that is much more than meets the eye from the trailer. The only major detriments are the occasional, humorous depictions of a few personalities and Night's vanity of inserting himself in every project. Definitely check out "Split." Come for the "Unbreakable" connection but stay for the original and creative story along with James McAvoy's portrayal of a complex villain.
Notable Moment: When Casey calls out the full name, Kevin Wendell Crumb, and the primary personality emerges. Besides establishing the true, tortured nature of the character, Mr. McAvoy does an amazing job of bouncing between the different personalities in quick succession.
Final Rating: 7.5/10
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