Overview
Split is M. Night Shyamalan’s 2017 thriller starring James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Betty Buckley, Jessica Sula, Haley Lu Richardson, and Brittany Snow. Released on January 20, 2017, the film follows three girls kidnapped by a man whose identity is fractured into multiple distinct personalities, including the increasingly feared Beast.
The movie arrived as a lean, nasty, highly controlled thriller, but it also turned out to be something larger. Split is one of the key bridges in Shyamalan’s later career, both because of James McAvoy’s performance and because of the way the film quietly expands the world first introduced in Unbreakable.
Quick Facts
- Release date: January 20, 2017
- Director / writer: M. Night Shyamalan
- Stars: James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Betty Buckley
- Studio: Universal Pictures
Story
Split centers on Kevin Wendell Crumb, a man living with multiple personalities who kidnaps three teenage girls and holds them underground while several of his identities struggle for control. Casey Cooke emerges as the emotional center of the film, partly because she recognizes vulnerability and danger in ways the others do not.
The movie is tightly constructed, and it gets a lot of mileage out of confinement, routine, fear, and the sense that different rules may apply depending on which personality is in the room. The film also gains power from the way McAvoy and Taylor-Joy play off each other. Without that, the whole thing would feel like an exercise. With it, the movie has an emotional center.
More on Split
More on this film: Soundtrack
More on this film: Collectibles