A psychologically perplexing film with as many shortcomings as triumphs

Rating: 6/10 (26 March 2017)

M. Night Shyamalan lost my respect as a director after he butchered The Last Airbender, as well as a few other films which never should have been green-lit. Somehow though, he has managed to put together a somewhat engaging film with Split. Supported almost entirely by the performance(s) of James McAvoy, Split engages the audience with an interesting view of multiple personality disorder. Kevin - the main character - only receives a few minutes in the lime light near the end of the film but the entire film, including the emergence of the beast, is entirely because of Kevin's need to protected. While the film likely resonates with many viewers who have likely also been hurt in life, the plot holes others have noted such as "why didn't the girls work together to escape?" "Why didn't the psychologist notify the police or at least recognize the threat sooner?", etc. While all valid questions that do in fact take away from the film, overall Split does a good job of utilizing appropriate lighting, and other visual-audio tools to convey the fear and confusion all the characters including Kevin faced. I give a 6 instead of a 7 or above because of blatantly ignored plot holes in an attempt to make the movie for "suspenseful".