Split
15
OUT NOW Digital HD 5 june DVD, BD EX TRAS Making Of, Featurettes, Alternate ending, Deleted scenes
Fully rehabilitated from a near fatal case of head-up-the-arse-itis, writer/director M. Night Shyamalan is back doing what he does best: imbuing schlocky B-movie concepts with a straight-facedness usually reserved for Oscar contenders. The results are seriously good.
James McAvoy plays a dissociative identity disorder sufferer with 23 distinct personalities (one OCD, one gay, one female, none Scottish), who abducts teenager Anya Taylor-Joy ( The Witch) and her friends while trying to convince his therapist Betty Buckley (the nice gym teacher from Carrie) that everything’s just fine.
Shyamalan fans know what to expect here: elegantly composed, insidiously threatening shots; plot operatics grounded in gritty realism; implied violence; plus more twists than a broken corkscrew. An embarrassing
but mercifully brief Shyamalan cameo aside, the performances are excellent, with McAvoy bringing the fireworks, Buckley the sweetness and Taylor-Joy a steel that means she’s always the protagonist, never the victim.
Tense and intelligent throughout, Split is a taut psychological thriller that keeps you guessing until the end… and beyond. Extras are solid rather than surprising, though the alternate ending speaks volumes for Shyamalan’s craft and patience: he knows exactly what he’s doing. Matt Glasby