A Really Good M. Night Film with some deep thoughts to consider

Rating: 7/10 (21 January 2017)

This is not a perfect film - but it is still a really good film and I think it explores deep, dark territory.
It was intense. Though, in a way it felt more predictable in some ways compared to other M. Night's movies. Because of this it felt less like a horror film and more an exploration of psychological trauma.
The topic of multiple personalities is not something new to the world of cinema - nor the presentation that a person suffering this type of mental health disorder is a dangerous person. Yet, some find offense by how "Split" presents and treats mental illness to scare people.
In my experience of the move, Split does not have many in your face jumps or scares. And I feel like that was intentional on M. Night's part.
Though the antagonist is portrayed as a monster, I found some elements of the character(s) to be conveyed that this is a person who is suffering from a traumatic past and there seemed to me to be some level of sensitivity.
At first, with the beast, I was a little put off by the sense of the character being able to evolve to some degree. But, I have to remind myself that M. Night is storyteller and along with that comes symbolism and allegory. Perhaps we are not meant to take some of these seemingly ridiculous factors so seriously - but look deeper into what those elements represent and the story they are telling.
With that in mind. I feel this story explores brokenness, and even though a person suffers from mental health issues, a traumatic past, etc., they may see themselves as "impure" and broken - but they are strong and can survive their situation - there is hope.
Maybe I'm the only one who is seeing this film and story from this perspective. I can see how it can be seen that using mental illness to entertain in a horror film is disrespectful. I think it is easy to come away confused about what M. Night is trying to say about the whole "pure" versus "impure" thing. That the broken are the pure and the unbroken are the impure. That can seem on the surface rather ridiculous, but maybe with a little more thought - it could actually make sense.
I mean, what is the difference between someone who has suffered and someone who is foreign to suffering? People don't understand mental illness, how trauma affects a person's mental health, and yes the world in reality tend to place labels and see people with mental health issues as "monsters" in various different contexts. Maybe this film was geared to showing challenge and complexity of these issues, while using a popularly entertaining medium to present these ideas to the audience to grapple with. I usually come away from M. Night's movies talking about them for a long time and more interesting exploring some sort of deep philosophical-type insight expressed through the films.
As expressed through one of the girls, we see in subtlety how she comes to realize that she is not a monster because of her past and her own mental health needs - that because she is broken she has a different understanding of life which in some way of looking at it - makes her pure. Sort of playing off the concept of Plato's cave. To be in ignorance of pain and suffering, or of reality such as in living a lie whether you realize it or not could be seen as something of impure. Impure may be a confusing way to express a concept but I'm sort of thinking of the Matrix movies here. Maybe I'm going way off topic here. But those who know the truth, such as in Plato's Cave and in the Matrix - perhaps they are pure because they are free from the lie, the illusion - that we are all broken.
Pain and suffering can lead a person to becoming something more. That pain is a chisel which can shape a person depending on how a person chooses to see and understand that pain and suffering. Not in the sense of biological evolution - but that of character, of maturity, of spiritual growth in a sense.
Anyway, enough of my two-cents on the meaning behind the story.
Split is a very well-made film. Well-acted. In some ways it didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary. It was intense and suspenseful. Funny and enjoyable, all the while it is heart-breaking and hopefully eye-opening for people. It is worth the watch and I will likely watch it again.