Perhaps it’s quite appropriate that Split opens as the nation teeters between two starkly different political administrations. Walking to the movie theater in Washington, D.C. tonight, I brushed past out-of-towners in red baseball caps proclaiming that America has fallen by the wayside, while I perused friends’ tearful Facebook posts celebrating all that America has become over the past eight years. This weekend, right- and left-leaning crowds will course through the city’s streets in waves, each vociferously claiming ownership over what it truly means to be an American. In their wake, the nation’s capital could be left shifting from one identity to the next, with no real sense of who it truly is, or perhaps even what it will be capable of in the years to come.
What better time to see M. Night Shyamalan’s dark, compelling gem of a film? In Split, James McAvoy plays Kevin, a young man struggling to live a normal life despite childhood trauma that left him with dissoc
iative identity disorder and 23 distinct personalities. His therapist has tried her best to help Kevin keep his demons at bay, but unfortunately, his most dominant and dangerous personalities have taken charge.
Those identities work together to kidnap three young women, including Casey, played by The Witch’s mesmerizing Anya Taylor-Joy. As we meet each of Kevin’s most terrifying identities, we learn that they have selected the girls because of their easy, struggle-free lives, and that the abductees are to be sacrificed to The Beast, Kevin’s 24th personality. But as Casey tries to convince Kevin’s gentler identities to help the girls find a way out, we also learn why Kevin ended up the way he did, and we discover that not all the girls have lived such breezy lives either.
Before I go any further, let 
me just put this out there: I like Shyamalan’s work. Yes, of course, I’m talking about the The Sixth Sense. The masterful twist, the “I see dead people,” the scares that left me terrified to go to the bathroom at night—it will forever rank within my top ten horror films. But when you may have disparaged Shyamalan for trying to make the twist into “his thing” in later films, when you may have been annoyed at his clumsy ventures into folklore and sci-fi genres, and when you kept wondering how on earth he was still making movies, there I was, waving back at you, “Hi! It’s me! I’m your reason. You’re welcome.”
Signs. The Village. The Happening. Devil. Even Lady in the Water. There’s just something about his films that draws me in—a dash of folklore, a sprinkle of cheesy heavy-handed symbolism, and enough suspense-building cinematography blended throughout to make them just scary enough to pass muster. Somehow I can look past the unrealistic dialogue and his self-indulgent cameos to let myself get wrapped up in the tales as they unfold, like a kid curled up against a parent for a bedtime story.
Were they groundbreaking pieces of filmmaking? No. Did I actually like the twists forced into each film? No. Do I blame my friends for seriously questioning my judgment based on my enjoyment of these films? No. But am I a fan? Yes.
That said, Split delivers even for those of you who don’t wear the same Shyamalan-brand blinders I do. If you’re like most people, you’d tell me you liked The Sixth Sense and absolutely loved Unbreakable. And for that reason, most of you will also revel in Split.
First, McAvoy is masterful. His performance expertly slices between the identities, fully acting out nine different characters on screen. With the flip of a switch, he skillfully wields a new accent, tweaks his posture, or slips into a lisp, and we are all transported with him. Plus, any guy who can strut down a hallway in heels with more grace than I could ever muster deserves kudos in my book.
Although the other two kidnapped c
haracters are forgettable and even cringeworthy at times, Taylor-Joy excels. Playing the token weirdo outcast, the victim, and the survivor all at once, her heartfelt reactions to each new obstacle placed in her path captivate and convince. This kid is going places.
Split is a true thriller. Focusing his camera on the empty spaces and leaving time for deep silences between words, Shyamalan effectively builds our anticipation and unease. It’s a film where anything could happen. Through his carefully-chosen moments of slow motion, the tiniest act and the smallest of facial reactions demand our attention. Shore that up with a pounding, rhythmic, amelodic soundtrack, and a truly suspenseful film is born.
Still a true Shyamalan work, Split includes its own share of heavy-handed themes, but the filmmaker departs from his usual cheesy folkloric messaging, and wades into deeper, darker waters in this film. The furthest limits of the human condition. Strength forged in weakness. Resilience despite unimaginable 
suffering. Loneliness in its truest form. There’s no “Swing away, Merrill” line here.
And perhaps right now, on the precipice of a new era of unknowns in this country, Split offers exactly what we need: messages of grit, of might, and ultimately, of survival.
SpecialK Verdict: Even the staunchest of M. Night Shyamalan haters will succumb to the dark, gripping performances in Split. It’s far from an upper, but it definitely leaves you feeling a bit bolder for having braved it.
Split opens January 20.
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