Don't be fooled by the trailers and TV spots for M. Night Shyamalan's Split: it's hardly the movie it would have you believe it is. To put it bluntly, this movie about a DID (dissosiative personality disorder) weirdo who abducts three teenage girls only to keep them locked up in his basement while slowly introducing them to his different personas is actually quite a bore.
Shyamalan, who hasn't made a good movie since 2002's Signs, here comes close to making something special; it's just too bad that he's lost the touch for staging a scene or even creating any sort of pacing worthy of note. James McAvoy plays the personality chameleon quite well, actually; and the young Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch), who plays the tormented teen unable to catch a break from perverted adults in her life (starting with her uncle) is even better. The fault is clearly not in the performances (hint, hint).
Nothing worthy of note happens in Split for a looong, long time; then, in a flash, a "beast" emerges, people die, and we don't even get to see some of it happen (one of the three abducted girls is seen laying bloody and ravaged late in the movie, but her death strangely took place off-screen). Also unnecessary is the character of Dr. Karen Fletcher (played by Betty Buckley), whose purpose is to serve the audience superfluous exposition that we would've had more fun trying to figure out on our own instead (the movie could've also used at least 25 minutes of editing).
The last scene suggests that a potential sequel to Split may feature a character from Shyamalan's 2000 film, Unbreakable. I suppose as long as it's paced properly and filled with suspense, it should succeed where Split has failed.
C
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