The Greatest Trick A Writer/Director Ever Pulled....

Rating: 10/10 (21 January 2017)

At the turn of the century M. Night Shyamalan captivated audiences with his films, largely in part to his patented "twist" endings. I can still remember the awe I felt watching 1999's Sixth Sense, 2000's Unbreakable, 2002's Signs and reeling when the final scene was laid out and the revelations brought to light.
In his newest movie, Split, M. Night pulls the greatest trick a director ever pulled. Marketed as a psychological thriller starring a riveting performance by James McAvoy as a man suffering from DID who has 23 personalities living inside of him you are prepared for a taut tale of fear and suspense. And fans of M. Night who have seen his earlier works and even the more recent thrill fest, The Visit, you're expecting the M. Night twist at the end. Split delivers on both the thrilling tale and the twist, but then goes beyond with a tag (movie speak for a short scene at the end of a film) so profoundly unique it blew my mind and had me rushing back out to the theater the same weekend to watch again.
Because what you don't know until the very end is that the entire time you have been watching a movie you thought was a new story from a great writer/director it was in fact the second chapter, a sequel actually, to an earlier work from this Grandmaster. And not just any one of M. Night's earlier works, arguably one of his best, one that has grown a cult following over the almost two decades since its release and had fans of it begging for a sequel for some time.
When that tag rolls and you realize that what you were really watching was the origin story of a new Shyamalan villain and the tie is made to this earlier work, it takes Split to a whole new level. Suddenly so many other things come to mind. The core themes and supernatural undertones of the two movies are the same (how powerful or villainous can our mind make us if we let it?). The exploration of the childhood of key characters (in one the villain, in another the heroine) plays an important role. In both movies colors are associated with the core characters (green, purple, gray, white). The movie posters both share the same design elements (I'll admit I had to go back and look up the other one to make that comparison). Even the titles of the movies themselves could be considered related, almost antonyms of one another. How could all of this been missed at first? Because you weren't expecting it at all, you weren't looking for it. That's what makes a second viewing all the better. That's what makes M. Night an incredible storyteller and a magical director and Split an amazing movie.