"Split" - M. Shyamalan

We watched Split last night-- the one from 2017 by director/writer M. Shyamalan. Although it was very well done, I'm not 100% sure WHAT I thought of the film. I think it would have been helpful to see some of Shyamalan's earlier work, especially Unbreakable, to which supposedly Split is a thematic sequel. Seeing the other film first would have caused the rather supernatural plot point near the end to make more sense.

The acting was a tour de force by the lead, James McAvoy. There was also a haunting portrayal by Anya Taylor-Joy. Neither will have to worry about getting work.

Along with the acting there was plenty of great camera work and set ups. There were several Hitchcockian techniques. In fact it struck me that Shyamalan is possibly the Millenial's Hitchcock. That crowd readily accepts, if not expects, supernatural and horror.

I generally don't watch kidnapping films, simply because the genre is so hackneyed that it's almost impossible to bring anything new to it. In the case of Split, though, Shyamalan may have done it. There was enough additional story and action to relieve the viewer of the humdrum circumstances of the kidnapped. So the film is recommended, but it would be helpful to have seen some of Shyamalan's earlier work-- especially Unbreakable.

p.s. How does one create an avatar on the site?

~Cheers

In the header: User CP -> Edit Avatar.

Also, I moved this thread to Movie Reviews.

Thanks, Yoda!

~Cheers

So, I've finally seen this, and now I'm pretty mad at the careless movie news site headline that spoiled the reveal at the end.


Good movie in its own right, though. When Night's at his best, it's because he makes movies that are good without the twist, but even better with it. I'd love to have that guy around popping out interesting films every couple of years again. Here's hoping.

One more thing I wanted to point out, re: Split being a pretty good film even without the secret at the end. General spoiler warning for below, though most of this is thematic rather than specific:

The way the film builds its parallel storylines in the present and past isn't exactly revolutionary, but the moment they meet is something special. All of Casey's flashbacks seem like backstory, revealing why she is the way she is. And for that purpose they work fine. But when they reach their conclusion, at the same time the primary story reaches its conclusion, we learn that all her trauma actually, in the long run, saves her. Her scars are her salvation.

That's a very powerful message, and it dovetails with two other Shyamalan films. First, the obvious one: Unbreakable. Mr. Glass' whole thing is that he can justify inflicting suffering in the name of saving others, and there are numerous references in that film to the way he's shaped by his own trauma. And given that Kevin essentially worships suffering, it's easy to imagine him doing whatever Elijah Price tells him to in the next film, because few people seem to have suffered more. That's how you know this was a genuine sequel, properly thought-through, and not something tacked onto the end because it seemed cool.

The other connection is with Signs. The entire message of Signs is that what seem like shortcomings, what seem like failures and flaws, end up being part of a larger plan. Merrill can't help but swing. The daughter's finnicky about her water. Et cetera. All the things you think are bad, all the imperfections, make you who you are and lead to something greater in the end. Exact same message here. And it's not dissimilar from The Sixth Sense, given that 90% of the film treats Cole's ability as a curse, before he finally realizes it's a gift.

Split slots right into not only the Unbreakable universe, but right into the same philosophical area as all of Night's best films.

Saw this last night. Definitely a strong showing from both McAvoy and Taylor-Joy. I hadn't read/heard much about this one, so the events at the end of the film were a nice surprise. Glad to see M. Night return with a strong entry into his body of work. He has had a few clunkers over the past decade or so.

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Man, I don't even wanna tell you how much money I'd pay to get to see it unspoiled like that. It's a stupid amount.

And yeah, Night returning to form would be lovely. Not convinced it's happening yet, but this was a really solid step in the right direction, and his last few efforts, though far from his peak, have certainly been better than the few just before them.

True. I did like The Visit. I think The Happening was his low point, and i had trouble getting through that one. Lots of unintentional comedy, there.

I still think Split is the WORST movie that I've seen this year to date.

Hah! That was a riot, Northpoint.. I'll have to check out some other of CinemaSins videos. I see that he has a boat load of them.

Yeah, there were certainly lots of unbelievable activities in the film. Of course it's probably presumed that anyone watching a supernatural/horror flick is likely willing to suspend their sense of logic.

A lot has been made of the "sequel" feature, and B. Willis' appearance. It confused me at the time. Since then I've watched Unbreakable, so I at least understand the reference.

But my suspicion is that the sequel aspect was dreamed up either during the making of Split, or at it's completion. Since the movie is now considered a sequel (albeit 15 years after the fact), it is to usher in a third effort which will reportedly tie the whole thing together. If that one in turn succeeds, then they could go on linking indefinitely.

~Doc

As someone who used to be really into CinemaSins, I'd suggest taking their videos with a grain of salt. While they may be able to identify logical inconsistencies, they also go overboard with it at times and will disregard the greater thematic points of the film in order to go "haha this doesn't make sense". They even riff on "good" movies, even ones that the makers themselves like, so again, grain of salt.

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

Wow, I watched Split one month ago, and it is a good movie. And i'm so happy because it has the second chapter

I won't say any spoilers but I saw a lot of holes in Split. I'm not the type to critique every little bit but the story has to add up and I just didn't see it coming together in the end. Decent acting by McAvoy, but I wasn't wow'd at all.

Split is an American thriller written, produced and directed by Mr. Night Shyamalan, released in 2017. The main characters are James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy et Betty Buckley.

This film is about Kevin,a man suffering from a dissociative disorder of the identity. He reveals 23 different personalities and is followed by a devoded psychiatrist. One day, one of his personality takes over and kidnaps 3 teenagers. While they are locked in a basement, they must learn how to know his different personalities to escape. At the same time, the psychiatrist feels that something goes wrong and tries to know this new personality she had never met.

Split is a real success because the producer does not need to use special effects to make the film real and create anxiety. The talent of the actors in a dark and mysterious universe fascinated me. Moreover the scenario made me discover the facets of this little known diseases. There are in the same time action, horror and drame that prevented me to take my eyes off the screen.

I recommend this fiction for those who are interested in psychological and human behavior.

Did you even watch the movie?

Yes, Split is a well done film. Here is a thread from April that you might enjoy about the picture:

https://www.movieforums.com/communit...ad.php?t=48945

~Doc

This user is, I'm pretty sure, one of a handful of students who were given the assignment of posting a movie review online somewhere, which is why we've seen that from like a half-dozen new users over the last day.

superb film, great stuff

'Not researching their videos' ex-machina.

No... it wouldn't have. There is no explaining in Unbreakable about this, it's completely unrelated, it is attempted to be explained in Split though. It's like saying you need to see Dracula to understand how Frankenstein's monster comes to life, it's also not meant to make complete sense.

It might have explained why Bruce Willis suddenly popped up at the end, that's about it.