Split left me, well, split

Rating: 6/10 (8 January 2018)

Plot; Three teenage girls are kidnapped by a man with Dissociative identity disorder whose various personalities perform an increasingly macabre play for his literally captive audience.
The arc M. Night Shyamalan's career is an interesting one. Though not technically his first film, for all intents and purposes The Sixth Sense is the beginning of his career. For better or worse, that film's infamous twist branded him as the "twist guy". Follow-up Unbreakable was less successful both critically and commercially (likely due audiences expecting one thing and getting something else entirely), but has since grown in stature and may rank as his most beloved. Signs had Newsweek declaring him the next Spielberg and it seemed nothing could stop the Shyamalan express. Then came The Village. Though a hit, it was less so than his previous efforts, and the twist left fans divided. From there it was a bit of a downward spiral. Lady in the Water left people scratching their heads, and The Happening had them laughing in a bad way. No longer able to do M. Night Shyamalan films, he took for hire gigs like The Last Airbender and After Earth. They weren't catastrophic financial flops, but neither film was well received (though I actually liked After Earth). But then Shyamalan made The Visit, which did modestly well (though exceptionally well when juxtaposed against its tiny budget) and met with equally modest critical response (though exceptional when juxtaposed against his previous efforts this decade).
That brings us to Split. A hit with critics and audiences, it seemed to signal Shyamalan getting his mojo back. This wasn't a for hire gig, but a return to the kinds of films he'd built his reputation on. The latter is certainly true. Whatever else it is, Split is pure Shyamalan. The first two acts are very solid, with Shyamalan slowly winding the string tighter and tighter as his principle cast do excellent work; particularly James McAvoy. Playing a man with 23 personalities (though only about a quarter of those are shown), he creates distinct characters. Sometimes transforming right before your eyes. It's impressive stuff, and worthy of Oscar consideration. Things fall apart a bit in the third act, as Shyamalan doubles down on the more fantastical aspects of the story with diminishing returns. A last second reveal does change how we view these events, and in this new context the last act works considerably better. Whether or not Split would've worked better as a standalone piece without the more fantastical elements than it does now merged with another of Shyamalan's works is up to the viewer. For me, I kinda side with the former, but I must admit that I'm intrigued to see where things go from here in the announced sequel.