- Night Shyamalan’s latest work of horror, Split, has topped the box office on its opening weekend.
Split follows the story of a man with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) who kidnaps three teenage girls. Throughout the movie, the kidnapper, Kevin Wendell, switches between several different trauma-sparked identities including: the germaphobe, Dennis; the mother-like figure, Patricia; the 9-year-old, Hedwig; and “The Beast”. All of his personalities fight for control of Kevin’s body as “Dennis” prepares the girls as sacrifices for The Beast.
Wow, just wow. I have always been a fan of horror/suspense/ thriller movies but this definitely tops the chart; Split, however, is scary in other ways.
Most horror films are just jump scares and slashers but this terror-inducing in other ways, most M. Night Shyamalan movies are. The poise of each identity and how quickly his identity can change is what is scariest about McAvoy’s character. Even Hedwig, a seemingly harmless identity, comes from the darkest parts of Kevin’s abusive childhood.
Almost every line, every camera angle, and every note of the soundtrack strikes a feeling of anxiousness and fear into the audience; one of my favorite aspects of the movie, however, ended up being how funny some scenes were.
My only gripe with the movie was that we only had the chance to see about eight of the supposed “23 identities”. Hopefully M. Night Shyamalan will explore Kevin’s internal struggle, as well as the vast array of identities, in a sequel.
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