Split
Three teens waiting for a ride home from a birthday party are abducted. The girls — Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy: Morgan), Claire (Haley Lu Richardson: The Edge of Seventeen) and Marcia (Jessica Sula: Lucifer) wake to an argument between their captor and a woman.
The girls hope to reason with the female abductor. Then they learn she is just one of a myriad of personalities inhabiting the troubled mind of their male abductor.
Two of the personalities, Dennis and Patricia (James McAvoy: X-Men: Apocalypse), are devotees of the beast, a harrowing creature that will remake the Earth by eating the innocent. The girls don’t really believe in the beast, but they’re fairly convinced that the man holding them captive — whose other personalities include a prepubescent boy, a fashion designer, a diabetic and a history nerd — is crazy.
Can they outsmart and escape a man with 23 personalities?
Can Director M. Night Shyamalan (The Visit) make a believable movie?
These girls aren’t typical victims. They’re smart. They don’t wait passively for rescue. The villain, too, is atypical, in that he comes in at least four wildly different variations. Shyamalan also treats the idea of multiple personality disorder with respect, avoiding making his baddie a drooling psychopath.
Actors are more than carrying their weight. McAvoy’s stupendous performance sells the outlandish concept. He alters the set of his face, his body language and his voice so distinctly that each personality is clearly identifiable.
As Casey, Taylor-Joy holds her own against McAvoy, using her eyes to express both terror and determination. Watching her try to beguile and manipulate all of the personalities is fascinating.
Split is entertaining, but it’s not perfect. Plot holes and overwrought dialogue abound, though the performances smooth that over.
A great popcorn film that offers laughs, chills and thrills, Split is worth the ticket price. See it in a crowded theater, as it tends to evoke vociferous and often entertaining reactions from the audience.