A Big Win For M. Night and His Fans!

Rating: 7/10 (20 December 2017)

I wanted to give my thoughts on this film because I recently re-watched it and I thought why not do an IMDB review for it?
First of all, I am a fan of M. Night's works like Sixth Sense, Signs, Unbreakable
I haven't seen some of his later films that got extremely reactions but I do know about them and I could understand where the hate for him was coming from back then when he made films like Happening and Avatar
However, his more recent work on The Visit was considerably better than his terrible films
And then came SPLIT, a film with a really interestingconcept
A man with multiple identities, not just a couple but, 20+ identities kidnaps 3 young girls and he has some plans for them, that's all I'm going to say because I can't dive further without spoilers
From the opening, the film does a decent job of getting your attention, you get hooked into seeing where it goes
The main protagonist played really well by Anya Taylor Joy is one of the young girls who get kidnapped and the way they slowly peel back layers of her character and you get to learn about her, you begin to see where she's coming from and you feel like rooting for her
This review can't be finished without talking about James McAvoy's amazing performance. He was absolutely fantastic in this film, he has shown a lot of range as an actor here, there was a lot of contrast between these personalities and McAvoy did a really good job of playing this character without being over the top. Almost all of his personalities are written and handled very well by Shyamalan and on top of that, they are complimented by McAvoy's performance
There's something about this film; it's the kind of film that needs you to be patient because as it progresses, you will find yourself questioning some things that happen and when all of it is explained, and you "GET" it, you are going to be pretty satisfied and it makes you see the film in an entirely different light
A small negative is that the film plays with the same old cliches of the kidnapping thriller genres while a positive would be that it mixes those cliches with an interesting new take on this kind of thriller story
Another thing is that the film can be slow paced at some parts, that is why I said, you would have to be patient
Some of the dialogue might feel like exposition-ery and a bit clunky, but it's kind of necessary, and the certain things that are resolved maybe could've been handled better
There are a lot of cool subtle details that you will notice if you pay attention and I noticed a lot of them on my second viewing after many months of the first time I watched it and I enjoyed it even more on my second viewing
The writing is very well detailed and quite decent though it isn't perfect or even that good
Let's talk about the twist, there isn't a big twist/turn in the traditional sense of a twist but there is something MAJOR happening here
I'm not gonna spoil it. But here's the weird thing, there's a certain factor that plays into the twist of the film and if you check that box, you will understand the implications of the twist and you will GET what it implies. But if you don't check that box, if you don't understand what it means, you might not like it and I get it, that's fine, that might be a bit unfair to you and you may even dislike the twist but I can see where you are coming from
But for those who do know what it means and what it's implying, you are going to feel rewarded and your jaw will drop with shock and awe
Split isn't a perfect film, but it puts a well executed new spin on the thriller-horror-kidnapping sub genre and it's a must see for Shyamalan fans because he is back with a bang! :)