Split – Examining the Shattered Psyche

The last thing I split… was my pants! Haha.

Split is the story of Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), a man with Dissociative Identity Disorder, who kidnaps three teenage girls and holds them in an underground facility. The girls, Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy), Claire, and Marcia, work together to attempt to escape with their lives.

It’s a dark story, perhaps M Night’s darkest. It even veers into the territory of uncomfortable at times. There are some flashbacks to Casey’s childhood that really get under your skin and make you feel icky watching them. The themes and implications are intense.

In a lot of ways, this film is about trauma, dealing with it in both the past and present. It’s a lot like The Village in its themes. Casey has trauma in her past, and is enduring the trauma of being held captive in the present. Kevin has trauma as well, and attempts to work through it as the film goes on.

Many of Kevin’s personalities are attempting to get in contact with his psychologist. However, other more dominant personalities are able to take over and take control of the situation. These are some of the most interesting scenes as McAvoy plays personalities pretending to be other personalities. It is an incredible nuanced performance.

This film is anchored by amazing performances by its two leads – McAvoy and Taylor-Joy. They both do an incredibly convincing job of bringing out the emotions of their characters and making it all feel so real. If either one of them had failed to convincingly play their role, the film would not have worked at all.

Not revealed until the final moments of the film, this is actually a sequel to his earlier film Unbreakable, which I reviewed here. Furthermore, Shyamalan’s next film Glass promises to complete the trilogy, bringing Bruce Willis’ hero David Dunn in direct opposition with Kevin Wendell Crumb, a matchup that promises to shatter expectations.

This is a good thriller with genuine moments of tension throughout. The pacing was a little off at times but nothing major. There’s a lot more good than bad in here.

Shyamalan Rankings:

I enjoyed this one, but maybe not as much as others. I was a little let down by the ending. I’m gonna slot this in at number 6 for now.

1. Signs
2. The Sixth Sense
3. Unbreakable
4. The Village
5. The Visit
6. Split
7. Wide Awake
8. The Happening
9. Lady in the Water
10. After Earth
11. Praying With Anger
12. The Last Airbender.

Only three more Shyamalan films to go! Next week, the sequel to Split, Glass.