M. Night Shyamalan is back with his latest movie, Split, to take his audience down that thrill seeking journey that we yearn for since Six Sense. Can he recapture that same movie magic with Split? Will he make a comeback or leave audiences empty handed? I’ll share with you my experience.
The movie begins with the audience witnessing the kidnapping of three teenage girls at a mall parking lot. The father of one of the girls is assaulted while he is loading bags in the trunk and the girls are in the car oblivious to what’s happening to the father because they are chatting, except their “odd” friend, Casey Cook (Anya Taylor-Joy) in the passenger seat. The “odd” friend watches as the attacker (James McAvoy) gets into the driver seat and she does not say a word. By the time the other girls, Claire (Haley Lu Richardson) and Marcia (Jessica Sula), are in the back seat notice what is going on, the attacker sprays them with poison to sedate them and all three wake up in a boarded up room in an unknown place.
The girls are kept in this locked room with a meticulous bathroom with no knowledge of who their kidnapper is and what is his purpose for taking them. Suddenly Dennis( McAvoy) unlocks the door and enters their room. Dennis is controlled, neat, intense, germaphobe and only states a few rules of the house before grabbing Marcia and starts to drag her out of the room. Casey notices Dennis’s fear of germs and whispers to Marcia to urinate on herself to save her life. Dennis proceeds to drag Marcia out the room and slams the door shut before the other girls can escape. Shortly Marcia is thrown back into the room after taking Casey’s suggestion. Dennis is disgusted by Marcia and brings in a bucket of bathroom cleansers so the girls can clean up the mess. The scene is crucial in introducing Dennis and building up the unknown of what will become of the girls.
Prior to the kidnapping, Dennis requests and emergency visit to see his psychologist, Dr. Karen Fletcher, (Betty Buckley). Dr. Fletcher is a world renowned expert in Dissociative Identity Disorder aka DID and has been studying Dennis and all 23 of his personalities for many years. We learn about the childhood trauma Dennis endures by his mother that initiated the development of these personality as a form of survival. We learn that the personality of Barry is the one that attends the therapy sessions and is reaching out for help suppress the other personalities (Dennis and Patricia) that are harmful and evil.
As the movie progresses we are introduced to helpful child (Hedwig), the domineering head mistress (Patricia) and the possibility of a 24th personality. The audience is also learning about the story behind Casey and what causes her to freeze up when she is under attack and develops a little form of sympathy for her attacker.
I do not want to give away any spoilers so I will end my review with brief statement of why I think you should see this movie. One reason….Hhhheeee’s Baaaaack! That M.Night Shyamalan story telling that grips you until the end is back and I’ve missed him. James McAvoy is, as always, the fantastic actor that he is and I have a new fondness for Anya Taylor-Joy. Welcome Back M.Night!
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