24 things you need to know about SPLIT

Rating: 8/10 (18 January 2017)

1. Obviously, the first thing that should be mentioned is James McAvoy's amazing performance. He is genuinely good and convincing as he weaves in and out of vastly different personalities, sometimes in the same scene.
2. Anya Taylor-Joy is a joy to watch as well. Her character has quite a bit of depth than the trailer suggests.
3. Rejoice for Betty Buckley! Those who thought she was awful in THE HAPPENING will find her lovely in this film.
4. As for the other two girls in the film - Haley Lu Richardson (who was wonderful in THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN) and Jessica Sula - are serviceable but not entirely memorable.
5. Special shoutout to Izzie Coffey. Shyamalan always has a knack for finding talented young actors.
6. My favorite personality? Hedwig. He is a delight every time he's on screen. Etcetera.
7. Barry comes a close second. Seeing McAvoy play a homosexual character is as wonderful as it sounds.
8. I would have liked to see more of Kevin himself.
9. And in that line of thought, I would have liked to see more of the other personalities as well.
10. The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous. Not a surprise since Mike Gioulakis shot IT FOLLOWS.
11. So is the score. This is Shyamalan's first parting from his go-to collaborator, James Newton Howard (unless you count Paul Cantelon's small contribution in THE VISIT). While a shame, West Dylan Thordson more than makes up for Newton Howard's absence, providing an atmospheric and surprisingly empathetic score in certain scenes.
12. Most inventive opening/closing credits ever? I think so.
**13. Don't let anyone spoil this movie for you. Just don't.**
14. I've already seen the film twice within 5 days of each other. I liked it more the second time.
15. But I still prefer THE VISIT. Some reasons:
16. The climax is really underwhelming. It works thematically/symbolically, but the payoff falls short.
17. On top of that, the third act itself could have been crazier.
18. The structure gets repetitive.
19. The runtime is a bit long as well.
20. As a matter of fact, the film has many problems.
21. But there are risks taken here, and SPLIT is admirable for that.
22. In fact, the film goes to some truly dark territory, especially for its PG-13 rating.
23. Overall thoughts? SPLIT is a really good January movie.
24. But I don't doubt that audiences will be split on the film.