Split (2016) Review

Kevin has been diagnosed with having 23 different personalities, one of which decided to kidnap three teenage girls who must try to escape before the 24th personality is released.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

The latest film from M. Night Shyamalan has been promoted in a very big way, we have had the creepy trailer for months now and his films always manage to generate plenty of hype. I will admit that I have not been the biggest fan of his work and it is very hit/miss and often too clever for itself in the end.

In this film we have James McAvoy really going for it and taking on the many different roles within one role. If that makes sense, as he has to play many different characters and sometimes at the same time. It really is very impressive to see him go for it in different ways and I think he really does deserve a lot of credit for that.

I guess it is difficult to review a film that really leaves everything until the end to have either a big twist or a big reveal as that means it moves along towards that from the very start. I will admit that I thought it split the tension from the girls being trapped to seeing the man with Dr. Karen Fletcher who is pretty much the only person who is willing to help. Talking to the different personalities and getting to know them, she can even sense which one she is talking to.

As the emails get more frequent making emergency appointments she gets the idea that something has happened. That one of them has done something which is not good at all. I guess that is something that helps us as viewers try to understand how serious the situation really is. I found her to be the most engaging and best character in all honesty as she explored the many personalities.

Casey was the main teenage girl that we got to know and her story is pretty awful and just makes you pity the other two girls who just think she is strange and a freak. She is so much stronger than they could ever be. The flashbacks, one in particular is pretty horrendous in all honesty and horrible to hear/see. I am sure you will know which one I mean if you have seen the film. I thought it was risky to have this type of thing going along with the rest of the film but it does all have a place.

While I cannot say that I loved or massively enjoyed the film, I was taken in by it and wondering just what was going to happen next and how many of the “people” we were going to meet and see through McAvoy. I managed to avoid everything on Twitter with mentions of the film, but after seeing it and being utterly confused by the ending was afterwards pleased it was all explained. I would never have known what it actually meant.

It does take a slower build up approach than you first expect considering the kidnap is the very first scene, and we have already watched it so many times in the trailer. As with any film like this we are given some teenage girls who are not likeable at all and we don’t actually care what happens to them, which was such a good job we were given Casey to really support!

A film that has really put me on the fence as at times I thought this is really good and the way it’s going. Then it took a crazy turn and I then thought it was actually pretty pathetic. So I guess it has a strange balance? Please let me know what you thought of this one!