Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Horrorfest 2024: Split

Split
Written and Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
Starring James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy and Betty Buckley
USA, 2017

In my continuing quest to catch up on all the M. Night Shyamalan flicks I’ve missed over the years, I checked out SPLIT the other day, making me probably the only guy on the planet who saw UNBREAKABLE and GLASS first.

SPLIT tells the story of a man with multiple personalities – 23 of them, in fact – who physically manifests the traits of these personalities as he assumes them. For example, one personality has diabetes, the others don’t. One is a super-human, murderous beast, the others aren’t. That kind of thing.

This is bad news for Anya Taylor-Joy and her pals who are kidnapped by this guy’s serial killer personality from a mall birthday party and placed in a cell. It’s good news for James McAvoy, who plays this guy and gets the chance to act the shit out of it. Why play one character when you can play 23?

This Shymalan joint is not as bad as his duds and doesn’t reach the heights of his classics. There is some needlessly confusing and convoluted stuff involving flashbacks for Anya Taylor-Joy’s character, but it’s a good enough flick that unfolds in unexpected ways and is worth watching if only for McAvoy’s insane performance(s). 


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