M. Night's Comeback and an Outstanding Performance from James McAvoy

Rating: 8/10 (8 May 2017)

Split is the newest film from the writer and director, M. Night Shyamalan which his name became a joke since he has created some disasters films mostly in the category of action and blockbusters. However, with the 2015's The Visit he has shown signals of his recreation of the genre as well as a sign for his return to thrilling form. As this was my anticipated film of the moment, I was vastly surprised from this movie. At this point, we could agree that M. Night Shyamalan has been returned and welcomed by other audiences in return form for thrillers. Not only does this film succeeds his career in recent memory, but also creates an unexpected super villain origin story that is a form of a rarity these days.
When the term 'superhero' or 'super villain' comes to our mind, we genuinely think of huge Hollywood action blockbusters, that is a huge aspect of modern day entertainment and a leasehold to most modern released films. As it takes incredibly huge budgets to create, it also earns or exceeds these amounts of money/box offices that have become extremely essential. However, with the film Split it breaks this stereotypes instantaneously. It may trick most audiences as a straight- up thrilling film, as three girls including Casey Cook (Anya Taylor Joy) gets kidnapped by a man named Kevin (James Mcavoy). As it seems that the man has OCD and perfectionism, as the days increases other unusually uncommon events occur as different personalities or identities are expressed. Half way, the film reveals that the man named Kevin has a rare psychological disease called 'Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)' and has distinct 23 different personalities that live in Kevin one form body. First off, the film's entire premise and the plot is very unusual and interesting as in cinema history, this range of ideas hasn't been thought out. The film does handle this idea in a fascinating method and a classical method that does not follow similar routines of modern day film storytelling. Also, it has a sense of 'fun' as the film essentially knows how to express these different identities and has fun playing around with them. Most of all, James Mcavoy is absolutely courageous in this film. He gives a variety of range of his acting ability while encouraging himself deeply that he might just be one of those rare actors who is 'really' acting. He gives such an amazing and phenomenal performance that you just cannot keep your eyes off. When the film falters at a certain point, James Mcavoy arrives to pick it up again and he is the best aspect that elevates this film in a high ranking. Anya Taylor Joy is good as well as she gives a very compelling performance as the lead girl. The film uses a lot of its tension on the environmental conditions, the sense of deep isolation. It does not have a consistent flow of true tension and thrills which could have been improved. Some of the dialogues are clunky and unusual in which some character human interactions seemed awkward and too much scientific. However, the cinematography is truly excellent. From the cinematographer of It Follows, it does have a very sleek and immaculate visual to be viewed. To sum up, it is a beautiful looking movie. As a film made by M. Night, we definitely expect ending plot twists that make us praise this filmmaker. The ending of this film is definitely one of his best endings and a very unexpected, surprising treat for fans of M. Night, himself. Aside from some major flaws, this film is excellent of what it has achieved through the ingredients M. Night has been given.