Well, seeing as I have been rewatching the Eastrail 177 trilogy, I might as well make reviews for the other films in the "Unbreakable" universe. Kevin Wendall Crumb is a man suffering from DID, giving him 23 distinct personalities. When one of the personalities kidnap three teenage girls, they must learn how to escape and deal with the different personalities while the 24th personality, an alleged monster, begins to awake. What works so well with this film is that it doesn't require people to watch "Unbreakable" in order to understand or enjoy, as the film keeps its sequel status secret until the very end. Many people went in without knowing the connection and got exactly what they expected, a solid horror-thriller, but with a mind-blowing surprise at the end with David Dunn's reveal. Even years later, the moment works so well as the film is almost in its own different world. If one removes the connections to the franchise, "Split" has a familiar premise for the horror genre, but with great execution. The typical horror cliches that I can't stand, which are mainly the poorly written female heroine, poor motivations, and the embarrassing defeat of the villain, are subverted brilliantly as the film progresses. It's somewhat formulaic, but there's enough twists and turns that pushes it beyond generic and into a broader area as the writing is one of the best of the genre in recent years with very little mistakes or inconsistencies. The film blends both horror and suspense while adding some light comedy and intriguing scenes that explores the characters. It's not trying to make you scared all the time with cheap sound effects, but rather explore the characters. It may be a bit slow at times with tons of dialogue, but there's practically no filler in these scenes as every bit of dialogue explains subtle character and story details.
James McAvoy is brilliant as Kevin, the man with multiple personalities. McAvoy is a very underrated actor that the Oscars and general public don't acknowledge much of his talents. He brings the personalities all to life so convincingly from the cunning and shady Dennis, the kind yet harsh Patricia, the innocent and goofy Hedwig, the distraught and grief-filled Kevin, and the disturbing and powerful Beast. McAvoy gives it his all in acting out multiple, unique characters with a wide range that it's a shame he never got nominated for his work. Anna Taylor Joy plays Casey, an introverted teen who is able to pick up on Kevin's behaviour and attempts to play along with the personalities and befriending Hedwig in order to escape. Her disturbing backstory offers reasons for her skills of observation and understanding the true nature of Kevin. What I love most is that unlike the majority of female protagonists in the horror genre, her conclusion is not extremely empowering with an ambiguous final shot of her character as she is told that her abusive uncle is picking her up. Casey is a strong, realistic final girl character that isn't invincible nor weak in terms of the plot. Betty Buckley plays Karen Fletcher, a psychologist who is studying Kevin and tries to help him. Karen does at times slow down the plot, but her scenes with Kevin and dialogue about her theory with her patient is intriguing to listen to. Lastly, there's Claire and Marcia, classmates of Casey who also get kidnapped and separated by Kevin, as their failed attempts of escape proves futile compared to Casey's patient and calculating strategy. They are surprisingly well-established and a bit likeable, which is a surprise compared to the majority of horror films out there. The cast are all talented whether they are newcomers or veterans, but McAvoy is the real star of the film for his amazing performance.
M. Night Shyamalan once again delivers an excellent job in his direction. Much like the character of pacing, he is calculative in his vision and how to keep the audience invested and giving them enough details to keep them intrigued throughout the film. The film could easily have failed if Shyamalan didn't know how much to give out to audiences at the right time, which is best used in the reveal of the Beast and David Dunn's cameo. The scenes that are trying to get a reaction out of you such as the scene with Casey and her uncle to her and Hedwig are perfectly made to make you uncomfortable and doesn't go across as shock value. The direction is familar, but unique and engaging. Unlike "Unbreakable", which utilizes impressive one-takes and staging, "Split" has a more personal, claustrophobic feel with its approach. Due to the horror and suspense tone, many of the shots feel interrogative which is helped by the film's use of interior locations. Although there are a few times where we can see Kevin go outside, majority of the film has Casey and the girls stuck inside the underground lair and Karen having sessions with Kevin in her apartment. This added detail helps give the film more of an identity compared to ordinary schlock in the genre. I also like the dim lighting in the film to emphasize a sort of dread and lack of hope. Not only is this present in the lair, but even in Karen's apartment sessions in order to show a hidden sense of danger. On top of that, the cinematography by Mike Gioulakis offers some beautiful-looking shots and use of shadows in the third act. The music by West Dylan Thompson is by no means close to matching up with James Newton Howard's work on "Unbreakable", but his score is appropriate for the film. There are times where scenes have no music, mainly in the first half of the film, which helps build in suspense without audio cues. The second half has much more use of the score, which I can best describe as dreadful and haunting. It's not a score that you'd listen to outside of the film, but works very well when used. The only issue I can say that Shyamalan has in this film is that there are some awkward line deliveries that feel unnatural, such as the first scene with the girls and the father, and the final scene where a lady for some reason says that the killer reminds her of Mr. Glass, which makes no sense as the two are barely similar with each other. Other than that though, Shyamalan can do no wrong.
"Split" is almost the perfect film that rivals its predecessor in a much different way. Although the story is a tad formulaic and there's some awkward dialogue on occasion, everything else about this film is greatly executed. From the rare subversion of the tired and cliched horror genre along with the use of thriller and comedic elements, the cast of well-acted and developed characters, McAvoy's fantastic and unique performance, the cinematography that's both haunting with the tight environments and dim lighting, but beautiful in some nice stand-out shots, Thompson's score being minimalistic and thrilling, and Shyamalan's excellent filmmaking that ties it all together. I might be praising it this film a tad too much than some might think, but personally, I love how this film feels conventional and gets ballsy in how it treats the usual horror cliches that I've been so desensitized to. It's one of my favourite horror films to date and is one of the best films in Shyamalan's career.
Verdict: 9.5/10. Almost perfect in my opinion if the script got a little edit here and there. Regardless if you think this is a horror film or not, let alone a fan of the genre to begin with, this is still a great watch and great follow-up to "Unbreakable"
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