Has good elements but doesn't quite let you enjoy it...

Rating: 5/10 (1 February 2017)

Let me start by saying that I didn't understand 'The Sixth Sense' (maybe because I knew what the twist ending was) and both 'Unbreakable' and 'Sings' -- the only other Shyamalan films I'd seen until recently -- seemed good enough for me. Not long ago I saw the 'The Visit' and I found it his best effort! Seriously! Maybe it was unprofessional young actors, maybe it was digital camera and a lot of fps but for any possible reason it felt like all the things in it might as well happen to you. It was very scary, definitely one of the scariest films I've seen. As you might have guessed, I was impatiently waiting to see this one because of my recent filmmaker experience and above that -- I really-really liked the trailer.
When it came to seeing the film, bright and shiny hopes were seriously injured. The problem is that the director, having come up with an interesting idea, forgot to give it the main: 'What's gonna happen next?', 'How does it all work out?' questions. We are basically told what the ending will be in the first 20 or so minutes and then nothing really happens. Add the fact that the pace is very slow. Myltiply that by inert pretentious montage from 'The Visit' (which worked right in it!) and it all becomes kind of sad. Flights of stairs, pretentious montage, some unnecessary talking, pretentious montage, some unnecessary running, the end.
On the positive side, I liked a decent amount of Shyamalan's imagery -- I liked the idea of many different personalities living in one body, I liked that Dennis and Patricia kicked other identities to under the bed and took full control of Kevin's body, I really liked that Dennis was pretending to be Barry and kept denying he was Dennis for like an hour and then finally broke. All mentioned is greatly pulled by James McAvoy. The other characters are all right. The only thing I didn't like in that field is that the movie, immediately hinting at Casey as a protagonist, then, for unknown reason, gives a lot of screen time to other two girls which are first intended to be secondary characters. Also, flashback scenes to Casey's childhood felt strongly unnecessary.
All in all, it may be worth watching. You may like it or at least like it more than I did. Here's my advice to you: don't set your expectations too high.