Just saying - maybe stop jumping on hate wagons and trust that sometimes directors and writers have some off movies, but usually they come back. And Shyamalan came back with The Visit and then came back even more with Split. And it's #1 at the box office for a second week in a row.
I'M JUST SO PROUD OF HIM YOU GUYS.
Alright, let's talk about Split and there will be spoilers so proceed with caution.
SPLIT 2017
"He's on the move. Someone's coming for you and you're not gonna like it."
Claire and Marcia are best friends and have thrown a birthday party for Claire. They invited Casey, the weirdo in class, but only because they felt bad for her. When Claire's Dad offers to drive Casey home, the three girls hop into the car, but Claire's Dad doesn't follow. Instead a stranger gets into the drivers seat and knocks them all out with some sort of spray.
The girls wake up trapped in a room and as the day progresses they realize the man that took them is insane. He has multiple personalities. Casey keeps her head and tries to use the youngest personality, a 10 year old boy named Hedwig, to help the girls escape.
Meanwhile we are being introduced to Kevin, the kidnapper, who is a man with 23 personalities. He visits his therapist, Dr. Fletcher, but usually visits as Barry (a fashion designer) who is the most dominant personality. The way he describes it is that all the personalities sit inside a room and then Barry chooses who gets to go forward. Dennis, an OCD with pedo tendencies, Patricia, a school marm type, and Hedwig have been banned from coming forward for awhile as they are the most aggressive. And Hedwig has the ability to come into "the light" whenever he pleases. But something has gone wrong inside of Kevin and those three have come to the forefront.
As Dr. Fletcher begins to worry, and the girls attempt to escape, soon they all find themselves in a fight against time, and a fight against the mysterious 24th personality who is referred to as the beast.
Overall?
I adored this movie. It was not scary by any means, so for all those worried about that, this is not a scary film. There are no jump scares and it plays out more like a thriller. But it was a wonderful horrific character piece as we learn more and more about Kevin and all his strange personalities. James McAvoy is phenomenal in this film, and if Oscars took horror movies seriously, you bet your ass he'd be nominated. An absolutely amazing piece of work. There's a scene where multiple personalities comes through at once and I couldn't even believe what I was watching. I also found myself falling for certain personalities. When Hedwig would appear, you truly believed it was a 10 year old boy, and your heart would break for him, and then you'd have to shake yourself and be like...dude...it's still James McAvoy. Stunning work.
Joaquin Pheonix was in the loop to play Kevin but backed out due to contract issues. He would've been returning of course to the Shyamalan universe after working with him a few times. This is a shame but now that I've seen it I don't think anyone but McAvoy could've played this role.
Anya Taylor-Joy, known of course for her amazing delivery in The Witch, was also fantastic to watch. As this poor girl deals with her flashbacks of abuse and the horrific things going on around her, the performance seems so incredibly real. I appreciated how smart Casey was as a character and it was fascinating watching her story line play out. I really fucking hope she didn't get out of that cop car at the end.
We also got a Shyamalan cameo as always which was fun to see. And it was quite a funny moment. In fact this movie had quite a few comedic moments, though they were quite morbid.
The movie runs just under two hours, and I know I preach a hard game about horror movies having no business being that long, but this wasn't bad. Yes, it could've used a few edits. But it wasn't a drag.
Alright so lets talk about that twist ending. What the ending reveals is that this is in fact a somewhat sequel to Unbreakable. We see David Dunn lean over the counter and say, "Mr. Glass" in response to a girl's question. So now let's take a look back at the movie with the understanding that this is a sort of sequel. Here's my thoughts - Kevin's Dad who left when he was young and caused the abuse from Kevin's mom to begin, died in the train crash from Unbreakable. The "Beast" when he's transforming does so in a train yard and on a train. And before doing so, he lays down flowers as if laying them down at a grave. So Kevin's origin story begins with that traumatic train crash, much like Dunn's story began as well.
Hedwig loves Kanye West and in fact risks Casey leaving her cell to listen to the music and watch him dance. Of course, Kanye West references Unbreakable in his song Through the Wire with this lyric; "Unbreakable, what you thought they called me Mr Glass?".
And lastly, (from what I can see - please let me know if you see more) in our final scene with Kevin the score that plays in the background and leads to Bruce Willis is the score from Unbreakable.
Could we have known all along? Perhaps. The title of Split is of course the exact opposite of Unbreakable and the posters themselves mirror each other with the cracks. And when you put the posters side by side the cracks match up:
And with Shyamalan in talks to do an Unbreakable 2, he has mentioned that we would most likely see the return of David Dunn going head to head with The Horde, what Kevin basically becomes in the end after accepting the beast as its leader. And it will be interesting to see if Mr. Glass will team up with the Horde since Glass is of course wheelchair bound but mentally incredibly strong, whereas Kevin who is mentally weak, is now insanely physically strong due to the horde. Between the two of them it would be quite the battle against Dunn....
Phew
My head hurts with theories. This will take a few more re-watches to catch it all and I don't know about you, but I really want to watch Unbreakable now.
Split is a fine piece of work filled with amazing performances and creepy moments. I highly and aggressively recommend it so we can yell at each other about theories.
10/10
Love you Shamalamadingdong, I will never betray you.
Stay spooky!
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