Split - Spoiler Free Review

Rating: 7/10 (14 September 2018)

Efore I say anything about the actual movie, I want to address something here; there has been a lot, and I mean a lot, of controversy surrounding this film, specifically for its insensitivity towards people suffering from DID, and making one of them into the villain; WTH people, have we become such a nation of victims that EVERYTHING has to offend someone? Newsflash, this isn't new, there have been countless films making villains out of people suffering from mental disorders; Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, arguably one of the best films ever made, covered this exact subject and no-one ostracized it for its insensitivity. We need to seriously start getting past this new trend of getting offended by everything, because we are turning ourselves into a nation of victims.
Okay onto the actual movie. As we all know, M. Night Shyamalan went through bit of a rough patch for many years, but kind of redeemed himself after his 2015 film 'The Visit' got well received by both critics and audiences. 'Split' is the first film that he has released since then, and, in my opinion, is an improvement over even that film. James McAvoy nails the part of the character with 23 completely different personalities, and is actually really fascinating to watch, that not taking anything away from Anya Taylor-Joy, playing the part of one of the three kidnapped girl. Both these main actors bring a certain depth to their characters, which we haven't seen in a Shyamalan film since 'Unbreakable' back in the year 2000. The movie itself wastes absolutely no time before getting to the suspense, and trust me, it is suspenseful as hell, creating a feeling of claustrophobia that I haven't felt since 'The Descent'. Now to be a bit of a Debbie Downer, although the film had me captivated through both the first acts, it did kind of lose me in the final half hour. I knew they were going for this, as it's hinted at constantly throughout the film, but even knowing that it was coming...I was wishing they wouldn't. Before it happens, one of the characters actually speaks the line "There have to be limits" and I personally wish that Shyamalan had listened to his own character. My reason being that even though this film is by no stretch an accurate depiction of people suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder, the first two acts still kept it realistic enough that I could buy into the theories put forth and extend my brain to a place where this could actually be possible, the third act kind of ruined that for me. This being said, it didn't bother me so much that I started disliking the film, or that I'm saying don't go see it, because McAvoy's performance alone is worth the price of an admission's ticket, and, even though I wasn't a fan of the final act, this is still a really good movie and proves that Shyamalan still has it in him to be a really good filmmaker.