M. Night Shyamalan's Split - Review/Discussion Thread

Spoilers, I guess?

Like The Visit, Split is another good little film from M. Night Shyamalan on his comeback tour, just maybe not as great as most people seem to be saying it is. I'd been doing a fairly good job of avoiding hearing the film's twist until the film's Blu Ray release, where plans of a sequel, and thus its connection to the twist, were revealed. So I ultimately went in knowing what was coming, but I feel this movie should be judged first and foremost on its merit without the benefit of the twist ending. And as such, it's good.

Certainly the best thing to be said for Split is James McAvoy's performance as Kevin, a man suffering from multiple personality disorder. By now we know just how great of an actor McAvoy is, and this role gives him a chance to emphasize that. He commands the screen whenever he's on it and really evokes a sense of dread and unease at the same time. There's a real unpredictability factor to his character, which adds to his scenes and the movie as a whole. By extension, this premise also gives Shyamalan to prove just how good he is at creating tension and atmosphere, and also sustaining it. Like I said, this movie does a good job of instilling unease. But on the other hand, Split also shines a light on some of Shyamalan's oddities as a writer/director. The main thing there is that there are quite a few dialogue scenes/exchanges in this film that just feel...well, off, as if it doesn't sound like stuff people would normally say to each other, or at least, the way they would say it. The biggest example of this is Shyamalan's cameo scene, where the dialogue sounds very stilted.





So, yes, I liked Split. I still may be waiting for Syamalan's TRUE comeback movie, but good/solid thrillers like this in the meantime will do just fine.

***/****