Amazing! Could Split be the beginning of something much bigger?

Rating: 9/10 (22 January 2017)

When I first saw the trailer for Split I was excited because it reminded me a lot of Alfred Hitchcock's classic Psycho (1960). I feel that the idea of Norman Bates having a separate personality, which he modelled after his mother, is what really made the movie so great. In Split, however, Kevin has 23 (later revealed to be 24) personalities, each with its own memories, beliefs, physical features, and email apparently.
When the movie finally came out, I really wanted to see it because it had been a while since I had seen a movie that wasn't a sequel, prequel, Marvel-related or a tie-in to a previously popular movie. Though (spoiler alert) it turned out to be at least on of these in the end.
I went in to see this movie, and one of the things I enjoyed the most was that the kidnapping began from the get-go. There wasn't an elaborate backstory to show us exactly what was going on. It was unnecessary. We came for Kevin and by god we got Kevin. The initial kidnapping scene was extremely entertaining. Firstly, the girls were so preoccupied with their cellphones that they didn't notice the strange man in their car. I felt that this emphasized the idea that modern day technology has left us so oblivious and unaware of what's going on around us (locally and globally). Secondly, the fact that Kevin (as Dennis) didn't notice Casey sitting right next to him showed that Dennis' mind is very one tracked. Dennis had been planning to kidnap those two girls weeks in advance, so he was either oblivious of Casey's presence or was just indifferent to it. So long as she didn't try to escape. Of course this is exactly what she tried to do, and she may have gotten away if it wasn't for that darned beeping that began when she opened the door. I found Dennis noticing her only at that instant very funny and it immediately had me excited for the rest of the movie. This opening scene was critical, as it set the tone for the rest of the movie, and it was executed very well.
We find out that Kevin is seeing a psychiatrist, Dr. Fletcher. A woman who not only knows about Kevin and his other personalities, but is fighting for the acceptance of DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) as a legitimate mental disorder. I found this very interesting, as it was able to shine a light on the fact that most people don't believe in the existence of some mental disorders. These disorders are hard to understand because the involve the mind, which we still don't understand as well as the body.
Later in the movie we get to meet some of Kevin's other personalities, including Patricia, the lovable Hedwig and Barry, or so we thought. Dr. Fletcher realizes that Barry, the leader of the group who chooses which member of Kevin can take control, has actually been silenced. Three (or at least two) of the personalities take control in order to unleash The Beast. I actually wanted to meet all the personalities, so I was a a bit disappointed to hear this.
The acting, however, by James McAvoy who played Kevin and all his personalities was outstanding. There were moments when I would actually believe that his different personalities were different people entirely. Furthermore, his ability to transform from one character to another, using not only his voice, but his facial expressions and body language, was inspiring. This was most evident to me near the end of the movie when Kevin, wearing a towel on his upper body, took the personality of Patricia. It was very subtle, but one could notice that when he took this form Patricia adjusted the towel to cover her left nipple that had been exposed. I found this to be both hilarious and clever at the same time. In addition, his ability to act as the personality of Dennis who was himself acting as another personality (Barry) was amazing.
As the movie went on and the existence of The Beast became more and more apparent, I started to see the movie differently. It felt less like a movie about a "Psycho" and more like a superhero/villain origin story. But it was far from a Marvel/DC movie. It was like one of those movies with "superheroes" that are more believable, Kickass (2010) is specifically what came to mind. Rather than being explained by a radioactive spider or gamma rays, it was explained using a known mental disorder. Even though I still don't see it as likely to occur in real life, I still love these kinds of movies.
Now, let's talk about the end (major spoiler alert).
I had just re-watched Unbreakable (2000) a couple weeks before seeing this movie. Now I have to say, although I didn't find Unbreakable as good as Split and, in fact, found it boring at times, I loved Mr. Glass' (or rather M. Night Shyamalan's) take on superheroes. How, although now superheroes have been altered using flashy colours and effects (not to mention CGI), the original superheroes were based on stories of people who had actually existed. Both of these movies represented that idea so well by using known medical conditions to explain their abilities (except in the case of David Dunn). It's almost as if M. Night is trying to challenge the current "Marvel-istic" view of superheroes. Like he is trying to wake us all up, as Mr. Glass wanted to do, to show us that superheroes do not need to be flashy and do not need to fly in order to be "super". M. Night may even be trying to start his own universe, similar to what Marvel and DC Comics have done. One that is pure and unaltered. Just as Mr. Glass would have wanted it.