Damn, McAvoy!

Rating: 8/10 (10 March 2019)

Terrific performance, or should I say, performances, from James McAvoy along with taut direction from Shyamalan creates one of the best movies of his career.
Movie is almost 2 hours long but never feels like it.
At its core, this is a psychological thriller with elements of horror. It starts off as a kidnapping story. Tension slowly builds and builds throughout the movie and reaches a crescendo in an absolutely gob smacking final third.
James McAvoy, in what could easily be the performance of his lifetime, lifts what could have been a role heavily dependent on gimmicks into something magnetic and terrifying. The spectre of the Beast looms over the movie the whole time, and for once, the Beast doesn't disappoint. I like how Shyamalan's twist on the typical Final Girl survival. One of the greatest assets he has is the organic ability to subvert mainstream movie tropes without it seeming like something played for shock value.
PS: I didn't make the connection to Unbreakable as well. I was pleasantly surprised to see Bruce Willis.
VERDICT: A solid 8.