Split
Do you believe in possession, ghouls and ghosts? Or do you believe in multiple personalities and mental disorders? Either way, M. Night Shyamalan wrote and directed a major thriller film covering all of those potentials. Full of suspense, knowledge and intensity, Split shows how it is possible for demons to enter our bodies and take on the role of different personalities through the diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).
After a birthday party in a mall, Claire (Haley Lu Richardson), Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Marcia (Jessica Sula) are set to make it home by one of their fathers when they are abducted by Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy); a man who suffers and lives with 23 different identities and taken to an unknown basement. In this unknown location, the girls learn about Kevin’s DID and have to try and figure out which of his identities will give them information about why they are there, and how they can escape. After trying to get all of the knowledge they can get through the different personalities, they find that there is soon to be an emergence of a 24th identity- something that leaves the three girls and Kevin in grave danger.
The predominance of the identities is that great, that each one is completely different. For example, we have Patricia who is a polite British lady, Barry with a heavy Boston accent, Hedwig a 9-year-old boy and Jade who is diabetic, just to name a few.
Kevin’s psychologist Dr. Karen Fletcher (Betty Buckley) is very aware of all of the identities that live inside of Kevin’s body, but she was never aware that it might have been possible for him to carry out the kidnappings of the young girls. Instead, she tries to find out which identity is emailing her for help and what they could be trying to tell her. Through desperate measures, Dr. Karen Fletcher goes to seek out herself what the problem could be, but little did she think that she was going to come face-to-face with what the problem actually is.
We see an underlying storyline of Casey’s childhood, and how her traumas led her to have the mentality and thinking that she does to help her escape the 24th identity and the basement. This is just a fraction of added emotions you will experience through the film, but it keeps you gripped and focused too.
Throughout Split you will feel the intensity of James McAvoy’s acting whilst he is performing as Kevin Wendell Crumb, but you will also feel the anguish of the girls who have found themselves in the situation that they are in. The way that James McAvoy is not just acting in the role of one identity for a film but 24 identities, shows an amazing amount of talent and dedication within the movie. With scenes that will grasp you further and further into the storyline, it is difficult to comprehend your emotions once the credits role and leave you with the knowledge and experience that you will just have had.
FILM & T.V.
words: jessica mckenzie