A Sincerely Great Return to Form for M. Night Shyamalan.

Rating: 8/10 (18 January 2017)

M. Night's career has for the longest time been considered a tragedy. A director whose debut was so great he was hyped up to be the next Spielberg, followed up that film with two decent films, two controversial films, and three downright awful films. What a mixed bag of a career.
When he made the film 'The Visit', while I didn't like it myself, some critics and fans began saying it may be a return to true form for the writer/director.
Now we know it's true, at least for now, that M. Night is coming back around to critics and fans alike with Split, a genuinely suspenseful and well written thriller.
The film follows three teenage girls, who are abducted by a man with dissociative identity disorder (aka Split Personality Disorder) for an unknown purpose. While the girls attempt to escape their prison, the man visits an elderly psychologist with a long-standing relationship with the man. This is the basic gist of the story without venturing too far into spoilers.
From Psycho to Fight Club, split personality stories are fairly common within the thriller genre. It, along with Schizophrenia and Psychopathy/Sociopathy, is a fairly easy way to create a 'complex' villain for the story, however I believe that with the film's major twist (because of course there's a twist), Split becomes a unique entry in this particular trope.
James McAvoy is great as the man, he has very distinct and developed postures and voices for each of the personalities that is quite outstanding. The three girls are also quite decent in their portrayals, and the psychologist is a very likable side character that genuinely cares for McAvoy's character(s).
Overall, this film is great for the thriller fan, and a great return to form for the director.