Movie Review for Split
February 28, 2017
In the newly released thriller/ horror movie titled Split, starring James McAvoy as Kevin and all of his other personalities, the director, M. Night Shyamalan, provides the viewer with a thrilling experience. The other main stars the film include Anya Taylor-Joy who plays Casie Cook and Betty Buckley who plays Dr. Karen Fletcher. The setting of film takes place in today’s world and in Kevin’s house and place of employment.
The plot follows three girls who are supposed to be returning home after a birthday party but instead end up kidnapped by a man with multiple personality disorder. Claire, Marcia, and Casie are Kevin’s three victims. After stealing Claire’s dad’s car, he takes the girls to his place of employment which happens to a zoo. Throughout the film, viewers notice that Kevin has multiple personality disorder because he acts and dresses differently when he is in the room that the girls are trapped in. Because Kevin has this condition, he sees his psychiatrist, Dr. Fletcher, and they talk and have sessions. When the girls try to escape, he punishes two of them by placing them in a room by themselves. Instead of trying to find a way out, Casie pulls from past experiences and tries to relate to her kidnapper by talking and getting to know the different personalities within Kevin. This leads to Casie having more freedom to do normal activities like eating a meal in the kitchen. This relationship also leads to Casie establishing trust and what ultimately helps her to try and escape.
One aspect of the film I enjoyed was watching the main character transition from one personality to the other without question. For the main star’s role, he had to take on many characters and play different personalities. The personalities often differed in age, job status, and even gender.
For this particular movie, the other main characters didn’t change outfits that much. What surprised me the most was when Kevin transitioned to different personalities, he dressed and sometimes talked differently. When he portrayed his other personalities that were women, he dressed in skirts and acted like a mother figure to the girls.
Overall, the quality of the movie was engaging and interesting. If I were an avid movie goer I would recommend seeing another horror movie. Even though the film is considered a horror movie, there were some parts in which the audience, myself included, laughed.