Split

***Split*** is a horror thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The film stars James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Betty Buckely. It was released in the U.S. on January 20, 2017.

The film garnered critical acclaim from critics. Split also became a box office smash earning 278 million dollars against its 9 million dollar budget. It was also praised for it's tie in to a previous film by M. Night Shyamalan, *Unbreakable*. A sequel, *Glass,* was released in 2019 as the final entry in the trilogy.

## Synopsis

*The film is about three teenage girls who are kidnapped by a man with 23 personalities. The three girls try to escape but three dangerous personalities are determined to keep them there and sacrifice them to the most dangerous personality of all: "The Beast."*

## Plot

Casey Cooke is an emotionally-withdrawn teenager, having been molested as a young child by her uncle John, who became her legal guardian after her father's death. While hanging out with her classmates Claire Benoit and Marcia, the three are kidnapped by Kevin Wendell Crumb, a man suffering from dissociative identity disorder.

Kevin has been evaluated by psychiatrist Dr. Karen Fletcher, who discovered he formed multiple personalities as a means to cope with abuse from his obsessive-compulsive mother. While Kevin appears otherwise stable, Dr. Fletcher has identified 23 distinct personalities within Kevin; in his mind, these personalities sit in chairs in a room, waiting for their turn "in the light" (controlling Kevin's body) as directed by "**Barry**", the dominant personality. She also found that Kevin's physiology changes when a new personality comes into the light. Recently, "**Barry**" refused to allow "**Dennis**" or "**Patricia**" their turns, in part due to "Dennis"' voyeuristic tendencies and obsessive–compulsive disorder, and that both appear to worship "**The Beast**", a yet-unseen 24th personality. Regardless of which personality is controlling Kevin, Dr. Fletcher can call forth Kevin's own personality by speaking his full name to him.

Kevin takes the teenagers to his underground quarters, and secures them in a cell. They recognize his personality disorder, and Claire attempts to use this against Kevin to escape, but is caught by "Dennis" and locked away separately from the others. Over several days, Kevin leaves them locked up while he goes off to work and attends appointments with Dr. Fletcher. During these meetings, Dr. Fletcher recognizes that "Dennis" has seemingly taken over the dominant personality from "Barry", though tries to act as "Barry" to fool her. She recalls an incident "Barry" told her about a month before, where two teenaged girls had walked up to him, taken his hands and placed them on their breasts, may have triggered "Dennis" to take over. Dr. Fletcher suspects Kevin, as "Dennis", is responsible for the three missing teenagers.

During this time, Casey befriends "**Hedwig**", one of Kevin's personalities of a young boy; it is later revealed that "Hedwig" has complete control over "the light", and provided "Dennis" and "Patricia" with control. She gets "Hedwig" to let her out of her cell to see his bedroom, believing there may be a means of escape through "Hedwig"'s window but finds it is only a drawing of one. She is able to convince "Hedwig" to give her a walkie-talkie, but before she can use it to call for help, "Patricia" takes over Kevin's body, and subdues Casey.

"Dennis" invites Dr. Fletcher to his home, where he reveals that "The Beast" is real, and that he has met him. Suspecting "Dennis", Dr. Fletcher finds Claire in her cell. Before she can do anything, "Dennis" catches her, sprays her face with a sedative in an aerosol can, and secures her in a separate room before leaving. While out, "The Beast" personality takes over for the first time, giving Kevin super-human abilities. Dr. Fletcher awakens long enough to write out Kevin's full name on a piece of paper before "The Beast" returns and kills her. "The Beast" then attacks and devours Claire and Marcia.

Casey comes and finds Dr. Fletcher's body and her note. "The Beast" approaches her, but she calls out Kevin's full name, bringing him forth. Upon learning of the situation, and realizing that he hasn't been in control of his body for two years, he instructs her to kill him with his shotgun. Following this statement, all 24 personalities begin warring for control of "the light", but shortly thereafter "The Beast" personality takes hold again. Casey tries to shoot him, but the bullets have little effect, and she escapes out of his quarters into underground tunnels, eventually locking herself in a small caged area. "The Beast" finds her and is about to pull the bars open to attack her, but sees faded scars across her body, a sign of her past emotional turmoil and suicide attempts. Having previously declared his plans to rid the world of the "untouched", those whose hearts are impure because they have never suffered in their lives, he considers Casey to be "pure" and spares her, disappearing from the tunnels.

Sometime later, Casey is rescued and learns she was being held at the Philadelphia Zoo, where Kevin had been an employee. Casey is asked by a police officer if she is ready to return home with her uncle. She hesitates to answer. In another hideout, "Dennis", "Patricia", and "Hedwig" exert collective control over Kevin's body and admire the power of "The Beast" and their plans to change the world.

At a diner, patrons listen to the media coverage of Kevin, in which a reporter states that his many personalities have earned him the nickname "**The Horde**" from police officers investigating the case. A patron notes the similarity between Kevin and a wheelchair-bound criminal who was arrested 15 years ago as she tries to remember the name they gave him. David Dunn is sitting next to her and responds it was "Mr. Glass."

## Cast

* James McAvoy as Kevin Wendell Crumb
* Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey Cooke
* Betty Buckeley as Dr. Karen Fletcher
* Haley Lu Richardson as Claire Benoit
* Jessica Sula as Marcia