Split Review

     January kicked off with M. Night Shyamalan's newest film, Split. Split is about three girls (Anya Taylor Joy, Haley Lu Richardson, and Jessica Sula) that are abducted, however their kidnapper (James McAvoy) has 23 different personalities. With a mysterious 24th personality on its way, the girls will do whatever to escape.
     I was incredibly hesitant going into this movie because I was not sure which type of Shyamalan movie I would see on the screen. Shyamalan is a very hit or miss director. Films like The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs are very well done, however he has also had some incredible duds such as The Happening, The Last Airbender, and After Earth. Fortunately, I am pleased to say that it looks as though Shyamalan has started his comeback tour because Split is quite an enjoyable movie.
     The greatest strength of this movie is evident within the performances. Strong performances from Anya Taylor Joy and James McAvoy, especially help the audience to be very much invested in the characters. If a movie, especially within the thriller/horror genre does not have efficient character setup and execution then it can be a real drag. McAvoy is essentially playing a multitude of different personalities, therefore different characters. He does so flawlessly. From body language to voices, he knocks it out of the park and differentiates the personalities so well and I think some of this stems from the directing of Shyamalan.

     Shyamalan does a great job of setting up tension and keeping it very contained. This movie waste no time getting into the meat of the story and the pacing in the first act of the story is very quick. It seems like Shyamalan thrives in these smaller thrillers and Split is a great indication of that. This story takes a direction that really worried me at first but once I saw the end result it really made sense and didn't bother me as much.
     The only part of this movie that I wasn't necessarily a fan of storyline involving McAvoy's therapist, Dr. Karen Fletcher (Betty Buckley). I thought the scenes with her and McAvoy were great because they really dove into the character. Unfortunately, the scenes on her own where she's trying to figure out what McAvoy is up to just didn't quite do it for me.
     This is the best movie Shyamalan has done in awhile and I am happy to see it doing so well at the box office because it really is a unique story. This is not necessarily a film you have to see in theaters but if you're a fan of older Shyamalan movies then you'll really dig this.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10