Tense, exciting and a welcome return to form for Shyamalan.

Rating: 7/10 (1 February 2017)

The double whammy of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable saw filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan ascend to the throne as the master of twists. Yet after delivering a string of debacles (The Happening, The Last Airbender, and After Earth) his title was lost, seemingly forever. Thanks to a career shakeup—involving collaboration with super successful low-budget producer Jason Blumhouse (Paranormal Activity, The Purge)—Shyamalan has announced his return to form with this creepy psychological thriller. Creating an atmosphere of dread via constant tension building and a genuinely unpredictable narrative, Shyamalan is back to his old tricks of misdirection, rug-pulling and Kafka-esque storytelling. Opening with the kidnapping of three teenage girls in an utterly unnerving sequence, the tale unravels to explore the complicated lives of both abductee Casey (Anna Taylor Joy) and split-personality abductor Kevin (James McAvoy). Or is it Barry? Or Patricia? Chewing the scenery with aplomb, McAvoy delights in a role that allows him to segue between an obsessive compulsive weirdo, a frightfully stern mother-figure, a whimsical (and hilarious) 9 year old, and, in the final act, something else entirely. There are undoubtedly flaws—an underwhelming and frustratingly ambiguous climax for example—in addition to a few nonsensical genre tropes, but the film's tempo and energy diminishes the negative effects of these missteps. Possibly a transcendent movie short of regaining his old position amongst Hollywood royalty, Split is nevertheless an exciting and gratifying thriller that continues the Shyamalanaissance.