Great performance, bad movie

Rating: 4/10 (25 January 2019)

The storytelling is cliche, the idea/view of multiple personalities is dated, there really is no progressing story, and the 'thrills' aren't really scary/thrilling. The script of Split feels like a first draft, missing a few basic elements. Like usually in this kind of serial-killer kind of thriller, it starts off with a grisly murder, which shows what the bad guy is capable of and what the protaganist wants to avoid. Here we have nothing, not knowing why Kevin even wants the girls. This fizzles a lot of tension/horror. From there no real plot develops (no one looking for the girls) and an unconnected sideplot with the therapist doesn't push things along (and the flashbacks of the lead girl really don't add anything to her character or story either). Split then tries to do the typical Shyamalan twist, but there was no story/red herring to make the twist surprising. Like in the Sixth Sense, the movie was setup as a story about helping a kid who sees ghosts, until the inevitable twist that showed what the movie was really about. Here, with out that element, all you have is a campy origin story for a super villain whose only purpose is to setup for another movie (the next Unbreakable). The only saving grace to this film, and only reason to see it, is McAvoy. His performances are rivetting. Each character is unique and very watchable. I'm not sure it's enough reason to watch this film, however.