Review #2 of 2017. I've gotta pump out a lotta these to make up for nothing in January. I didn't even post about how lonely I was!!! But hopefully I can make it up to y'all and you can forgive me. Okay, here goes.
S P L I T
Love M. Night Shyamalan? Well, you ain't seen nothin' like this. Actually, you may have.
But still, I've only seen a handful of Mr. Night's works such as Unbreakable, Signs, The Last Airbender, and The Sixth Sense. So I've no clue if he's ever made something along these lines, but either way, this was phenomenal. James McAvoy really brings his skills and talents to the table, delivering a horrifying and fantastic performance as Kevin Wendell Crumb, a man with 23 split personalities. They all bear different names, different psyches, and different objectives.
Now, thank God that Mr. Night didn't show us all 23 of Kevin's personalities, or else I would have ripped my hair out. But the ones that are portrayed are done phenomenally. Their names are Dennis, Patricia, Hedwig, Barry, Orwell, Jade, and The Beast. The Beast is the 24th personality that manifests itself at the end of the film.
The action starts pretty fast, actually, almost immediately. Casey Cook (Anya Taylor-Joy) is a shy high school teenager that has a rather suggestive past, and is quiet because of it. She is waiting for her uncle to pick her up from a birthday party that has just concluded. Claire and Marcia are the other girls that are also waiting for rides.
Claire suggests to her father that they just leave because Casey's ride is probably going to be there any minute, but her father refuses. Casey comes over and says that her uncle's truck broke
down on the highway, and Claire's dad offers to give her a ride home. Casey accepts.
Claire, Marcia, Casey, and Claire's father walk out to the car and jump in. Claire's dad is at the trunk a little too long, and a strange man steps into the vehicle. He's wearing glasses and has a dark grey button-down shirt with some nice slacks for bottoms. He puts on a white honeycomb carbon mask and uses a spray that knocks out Claire and Marcia.
It seems, however, that he does not notice Casey. He begins to prepare himself for driving when Casey opens the passenger seat door. The car alerts the man to the opening of the door and responds by knocking Casey out with the same spray used on Claire and Marcia.
The three wake up in a room with two twin size beds and a single door. There is a bathroom off to the right with a single red rose in an elegant vase. But nothing has happened to them at all. None of them have been assaulted and none of them have been abused. It's a very strange situation indeed.
Dr. Karen Fletcher is a psychological doctor who is studying Kevin. She is aware of the 23 different personalities, and has met Barry and Patricia before. However, she has not met Dennis. And recently, Barry has sent Dr. Fletcher random and very urgent emails that aren't very self-explanatory. They make no sense in fact. She suspects something is going on between all of the personalities, but isn't sure what.
We find out later on that it is Dennis that captured the three girls and brought them to their current dwelling place. They meet Dennis again and he introduces them to the bathroom and asks that they keep everything neat and orderly. As the film progresses, you also meet Patricia who is very motherly in nature. Hedwig is a nine year old that likes to dance and has red socks.
All the while the girls are trying to figure out how to escape the personalities' plans for their demise, Dr. Fletcher must discover what is happening that Barry and Dennis will not say. She eventually finds out that the personalities believe that The Beast is coming to Kevin, and it will be the greatest personality that is contained in Kevin's body. It has a desire for human flesh, and believes that any who have not suffered are not pure, therefore they must die.
And guess who is pure? Well I'm not gonna tell ya, you've gotta see the film!
Now, thank God that Mr. Night didn't show us all 23 of Kevin's personalities, or else I would have ripped my hair out. But the ones that are portrayed are done phenomenally. Their names are Dennis, Patricia, Hedwig, Barry, Orwell, Jade, and The Beast. The Beast is the 24th personality that manifests itself at the end of the film.
The action starts pretty fast, actually, almost immediately. Casey Cook (Anya Taylor-Joy) is a shy high school teenager that has a rather suggestive past, and is quiet because of it. She is waiting for her uncle to pick her up from a birthday party that has just concluded. Claire and Marcia are the other girls that are also waiting for rides.
Claire suggests to her father that they just leave because Casey's ride is probably going to be there any minute, but her father refuses. Casey comes over and says that her uncle's truck broke
Claire, Marcia, Casey, and Claire's father walk out to the car and jump in. Claire's dad is at the trunk a little too long, and a strange man steps into the vehicle. He's wearing glasses and has a dark grey button-down shirt with some nice slacks for bottoms. He puts on a white honeycomb carbon mask and uses a spray that knocks out Claire and Marcia.
It seems, however, that he does not notice Casey. He begins to prepare himself for driving when Casey opens the passenger seat door. The car alerts the man to the opening of the door and responds by knocking Casey out with the same spray used on Claire and Marcia.
The three wake up in a room with two twin size beds and a single door. There is a bathroom off to the right with a single red rose in an elegant vase. But nothing has happened to them at all. None of them have been assaulted and none of them have been abused. It's a very strange situation indeed.
Dr. Karen Fletcher is a psychological doctor who is studying Kevin. She is aware of the 23 different personalities, and has met Barry and Patricia before. However, she has not met Dennis. And recently, Barry has sent Dr. Fletcher random and very urgent emails that aren't very self-explanatory. They make no sense in fact. She suspects something is going on between all of the personalities, but isn't sure what.We find out later on that it is Dennis that captured the three girls and brought them to their current dwelling place. They meet Dennis again and he introduces them to the bathroom and asks that they keep everything neat and orderly. As the film progresses, you also meet Patricia who is very motherly in nature. Hedwig is a nine year old that likes to dance and has red socks.
All the while the girls are trying to figure out how to escape the personalities' plans for their demise, Dr. Fletcher must discover what is happening that Barry and Dennis will not say. She eventually finds out that the personalities believe that The Beast is coming to Kevin, and it will be the greatest personality that is contained in Kevin's body. It has a desire for human flesh, and believes that any who have not suffered are not pure, therefore they must die.
And guess who is pure? Well I'm not gonna tell ya, you've gotta see the film!
S P L I T
Ratings:
Family Friendliness- 7/10 Personalities There are some suggestive things that occur, like Dennis asking the girls to remove their shirts so that he can wash them, and then near the end when the Beast has manifested itself completely inside of Kevin, he kills Dr. Fletcher, Claire, and Marcia. That should tell you who lives. Or does she?
Story-line- 8/10 Rooms I love M. Night Shyamalan's work (except for The Last Airbender though, that was awful) and this definitely lived up to his name. The story was not very hard to follow at all, and the way it is told is beautiful. You see things from Casey's point of view, and it's a little confusing when you see flashbacks of her childhood at first, but once you reach the end it all fits perfectly. At least, I understood what the flashbacks' purpose were.
Acting- 9/10 Flashbacks Alright, this is something I've never done with a review, but I think you know that I try to spice every review up a little bit, so this is no different. I just had to point out that this movie's actor talent was through the roof for a relatively low budget. James McAvoy delivered an amazing performance and really brought life and character to each of the different personalities that were portrayed. I honestly couldn't have thought of a better actor to play Kevin. Well, maybe Tom Hardy. That would have had me shook.
Overall- 9/10 Stars This was a phenomenal film. I was really impressed with how Mr. Night was able to pull off such a thrilling movie with such a small budget. I mean, compared to other films (*cough*Captain America: Civil War*cough cough*) the budget was small.
Bibliography:
"Split Wallpaper" <http://www.desktop4ipad.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/split_xxlg-500x500.jpg>
"Split Hedwig" <https://movies.universalpictures.com/media/split-gallery-2-5797dc2868ec8-1.png>
"Split Dennis" <http://dirtyhorror.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/rs-split-f0a299c5-db50-4c61-afdd-b7423a8ca912.jpg>
"Split Hedwig" <https://movies.universalpictures.com/media/split-gallery-2-5797dc2868ec8-1.png>
"Split Dennis" <http://dirtyhorror.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/rs-split-f0a299c5-db50-4c61-afdd-b7423a8ca912.jpg>
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