McAvoy deftly juggles 24 personalities in ‘Split’

By Arbogast, Brandon, February 8, 2017

By Chase McNaughton// Staff Writer

The recently released movie, “Split,” is an original psychological thriller written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The movie centers around the kidnapping of an introverted high school girl named Casey (played by Anya Taylor-Joy), and two of her classmates, Clair (played by Haley Lu Richardson) and Marcia (played by Jessica Sula). The kidnapper, Kevin (played by James McAvoy), suffers from an extreme case of Dissociative Identity Disorder and as a result, has 23 different personalities, and a 24th lurking just beneath the surface.

Just to makes sure we are clear, this is a spoiler-free review. Since this is a Shyamalan movie, it would be cruel of me to give away his trademark twist ending.

“Split” is Shyamalan’s best movie since “The Sixth Sense.” Unfortunately, that is not saying much. If you’ve kept up with his work in recent years, then you would probably agree that his movies have been less than stellar. Newsweek once called him, “The Next Spielberg” but after “The Sixth Sense” and “Signs,” Shyamalan had a decade long slump of critical disappointments like “Lady In The Water,” “The Happening,” “Devil,” “Last Airbender,” and “After Earth.” It was not until his 2015 movie, “The Visit,” where we saw a return to his earlier genius.

“Split” is, without a doubt, a better movie than “The Visit,” but not in the same league as his crowning achievement, “The Sixth Sense.” There are still parts in the movie that feel awkward and out of place, but they aren’t too distracting. You still remain invested in the story, you still want to know what happens to the characters and you still want to be wowed by the surprise ending. I highly recommend “Split.”

“Split” is a movie that keeps the viewer tense and entertained for a solid two hours. This is due largely to the performance of McAvoy as Kevin. With 23 personalities to juggle, we are treated to a display of acting range. McAvoy had a lot to do for his performance in this movie. He played multiple personalities, had to play them creepily and realistically, and manage to keep the audience interested in every scene he is in. With all that on his plate, it’s safe to say that he did a really great job with it.

However, there were moments where McAvoy felt a little over the top where I found myself laughing at his overacting. He has to play a lot of flamboyant personalities that almost felt stereotypical. One of his personalities is a nine-year-old boy with a lisp. This character got the most amounts of laughs from the audience, which made sense since it was a grown man acting as a child.  He still manages to recover from some of his awkward moments whenever he switches into a more subtle and normal personality, which I actually found myself enjoying.

Taylor-Joy’s character, Casey, is the heroine of the film. Initially the shy girl in the group, she emerges as the voice of reason and the one who bravely confronts and negotiates with their captor. My only issue with her character is that she is given a lot of backstory with flashbacks of her as a child scattered throughout the whole movie. They do tie these flashbacks in with the ending and it certainly pays off, but at the same time it felt like it was trying a little too hard because they pop up at the most random times.

Clair and Marcia, the two other girls who are snatched with Casey, are the stereotypical kidnapped victims who are helpless and unprepared to deal with the horror of their situation. I found these characters to be somewhat irritating as they never breakout of their victim roles.

The most iconic element to any Shyamalan film is the surprise twist at the end. If you’ve seen “The Sixth Sense,” you know what I’m talking about. “Split” does not disappoint. In an effort to avoid giving anything away, I will tell you that, at first, the ending is a bit of a head scratcher as Shyamalan takes a risky, unorthodox path in bringing this film to its conclusion. Shyamalan fans will most likely get what he’s done but others who are less familiar with his work might miss it. If you don’t understand, be sure and go online and look it up. It’s worth the “aha” moment.