"The broken are the more evolved."

Rating: 5/10 (27 January 2017)

A return to the tried and true: M. Night Shyamalan's "Split", which he wrote and directed (both rather clinically), opens with a distinct "Silence of the Lambs" vibe before eventually evolving into a continuation of themes Shyamalan used for his "Unbreakable". Three teenage girls in Philadelphia are abducted from a parking lot by a man with dissociative identity disorder; he harbors dozens of personalities--male, female and child--but the final one to present itself is calling for an alliance of "the horde", and may represent something superhuman. While the opening scenes do have a familiar ring, they are well-executed by the filmmaker, who gives the audience what its probably hoping for; but Shyamalan, to his credit (although some genre buffs might not be so generous), is aiming for something loftier than imprisoned girls attempting to escape from a psychotic. The film offers a dissertation on DID via the captor's somewhat-unwitting psychiatrist, who--via Skype!--gives a clinical rundown of the mental disorder to her colleagues (including case studies). None of this information, however interesting, is utilized in the final stretch, as Shyamalan is out to baffle us with a plot-twist that is both confounding and amusing. While "Split" is creepy on occasion, it isn't effective as a scary thriller. Maybe Shyamalan feels he's above giving his audience a shock, a jolt, but sometimes a few good clichés are better than a round-table discussion. ** from ****