‘Split’ proves Shyamalan still has a knack for thrillers
Published 1:30 am Friday, January 20, 2017
Back in the heyday of “The Sixth Sense” and “Signs,” writer-director M. Night Shyamalan had no shortage of twist endings. Maybe one too many.
Shyamalan became famous for these things, but he seemed to hit a creative trough a few years back. His new one, “Split,” suggests that he might still have the knack for thrillers, even when he doesn’t have a twist up his sleeve.
The subject matter is seamy, although the approach is mostly psychological. In the opening sequence, three teenage girls are abruptly kidnapped by a stranger.
They wake up in a bunker-like room. Claire (Haley Lu Richardson) and Marcia (Jessica Sula) are popular, spoiled girls; the third, Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy, from “The Witch”) has a confirmed reputation as a brooder and a misfit.
They’ll have to work together, because there’s something very weird going on with their captor — beyond the fact that he is a psychopathic kidnapper.
Here’s where the movie’s gimmick comes into play. The kidnapper, whose original name is Kevin, suffers from dissociative identity disorder, which used to be better known as a split personality.
Sometimes he’s Barry, a fey clothing designer. Sometimes he’s neatnik Dennis or the imperious Patricia, both of whom are stricter than the others.
And sometimes he’s Hedwig, a 9-year old with a gullible personality. Hedwig’s the easiest to manipulate.
This DID character is played by James McAvoy, taking a break from the “X-Men” universe. Shyamalan gives McAvoy plenty of leash to play with Kevin’s many different sides.
This is the main thing that distinguishes “Split.” McAvoy is having a grand time, and watching him slide from person to person is like an acting class for our benefit. (The preview audience chuckled appreciatively at McAvoy’s deftness, a rare example of laughter for a performance, not dialogue.)
In sessions with his psychotherapist (Betty Buckley, a splendid performance from an old pro), Kevin — or whoever he is at the moment — seems calm enough. But she senses something amiss.
Shyamalan writes some chewy conversations here, and he’s still one of the few directors of thrillers who know how to tell a story with the camera. Big chunks of “Split” are ridiculous, but overall the film is compelling enough to make you want to roll with it.
Whether the DID stuff is credible or not, I will leave to the professionals. But let’s not overthink it.
By the way, there is a little stinger at the very end of the movie. You can’t call it a twist, because it’s got nothing to do with the movie we’ve been watching. Apparently for M. Night Shyamalan, old habits die hard.
“Split” (3 stars)
James McAvoy gives a little acting class as a man suffering from multiple personalities; he makes the seamy subject matter (a man kidnaps three teenagers and holds them in his lair) bearable. Director M. Night Shyamalan proves he can still make a thriller hum along.
Rating: PG-13, for violence, subject matter
Showing: Alderwood Mall, Cinebarre Mountlake Terrace, Everett Stadium, Marysville, Meridian, Pacific Place, Sundance Cinemas, Thornton Place Stadium, Cascade Mall
