James McAvoy is fantastic and effortlessly slips into different personas. Anya Taylor-Joy is striking and very good.

The film is a decent watch but the build-up to a sort of anti-climatic end is a tad disappointing. I guess I was expecting the film to go a little further with its premise but the conclusion feels more silly than satisfying. As for the pre-credits scene, it'll surely get people talking but does it enhance the film? Idk, I guess I'd have to revisit

Overall not a bad effort from Shayamalan but I think The Visit was a much creepier and "satisfying" film. And in terms of captivity films, it just made me think about 10 Cloverfield Lane, which was much more compelling than this.

... really, no one else has seen this yet?

SHYAMALAN CINEMATIC UNIVERSE

Shyamalaniverse

I'm in.

Schlocky but a ton of fun.

Absurdly silly at times, but the film is well-crafted and entertaining overall. James McAvoy is excellent. B-

McAvoy is Oscar-worthy. Also loved Anya Taylor-Joy. But it does feel a tad messy. There's also too much focus on the therapist. But I found it pretty entertaining. That end twist was not necessary.

7/10 ( B )

I don't know if I got my expectations too high because of how much of a blast The Visit was but this was very disappointing. James McAvoy was admittedly great as was Anya Taylor-Joy as the 'final girl' but this was way overlong and unnecessarily dull at points. The therapist character should have been excised completely, she was super unnecessary. And the final twist ending was absolutely ridiculous and almost ruined the entire movie for me. It's SO stupid and reminded me of the bullshit M. Night pulled in Lady In The Water where he cast himself as the prophetic writer. No one is fucking checking for Unbreakable 2 in 2017. It's well-crafted but basically an inferior version of the amazing 10 Cloverfield Lane from last year. C

The twist is the worst one Shyamalan has ever done. It's so awful.

Unbreakable is my favorite MNS movie, so I obviously dug the twist. And the more I think about it the more I like the twist. The movie itself is very good, but not on the level of Unbreakable.

B+

I saw it with three others and had to explain the twist to two of them because they'd never seen Unbreakable. Nor will many of the younger people seeing this. My showing was full of teens and they surely won't pick up on anything. It was completely unnecessary. No reason at all to connect these movies.

It's unfortunate Taylor-Joy's character has to go back to her rapist uncle. Thought there was going to be some twist with that or maybe she'd kill him.

James McAvoy really carries this film. Just one slip up and this all could have went south fast, but the stuff he does with his eyes and facial expressions is pretty amazing. It's a fantastic, very memorable performance, but I also have to give props to Anya Taylor-Joy as well, because she is almost equally as good. Unfortunately, the rest of the film is so average and I honestly didn't care for the Unbreakable twist, although I did like the music at the end.

you think she will? i thought it was pretty obvious she was gonna tell the cop about him.

I didn't really think that at the time but you're probably right.

McAvoy was brilliant in this. The unfortunate thing is that the film dips in quality when he isn't on screen. I haven't enjoyed a M. Night film this much in a loooong time. Probably since first seeing Signs. My mind was blown about the "twist" and I am one of those few that is super excited about it.

A solid B

Split is a decent, if uneven suspense film elevated by a tremendous, award-worthy lead performance by James McAvoy. The charismatic Scotsman plays Kevin, an isolated and unwell man with over 20 personalities; they range from a precocious child, Hedwig, to a deviant and stern repairman named Dennis. At the film's outset, Kevin abducts a group of teenage girls, one portrayed by The Witch's Anya Taylor-Joy, and claims they will play an important role in the emergence of a new and powerful personality, "the Beast." McAvoy is a marvel to watch as he wildly and at times very rapidly alters his voice and posture to convey each of Kevin's personalities coming to the fore. The role is an invitation to show his considerable range as an actor, to devour the scenery (and a bit of human flesh), and he responds with flair and intensity. The wide-eyed and fetching Taylor-Joy is also superb, creating a heroine at once resourceful and vulnerable. The quality of their acting mostly outpaces the quality of writer and director M. Night Shyamalan's film in general; it is entertaining—there are handful of truly inspired set pieces and shot compositions, including clever uses of shadow and point-of-view—but flawed. One key character, an elderly psychiatrist studying patients with multiple personalities, registers as a feature-length version of the long-winded therapist who explains Norman Bates at the end of Psycho, and the frequent cuts to her subplot defuse the claustrophobia and propulsion of the primary action. Reducing or even excising her character would go a long way to focusing and tightening the overall picture.

B

I am mostly ambivalent re: the ending. If Night can turn out a fun film pitting Bruce Willis' dowdy, poncho-wearing superhero against McAvoy's Beast, then I am game. But it falls a bit flat as a "twist." I suspect a lot of the predominantly teenage audience have no clue what Unbreakable is or maybe even who Bruce Willis is. And even as a person who does get it, it is a slightly masturbatory, minor-feeling note to end on; a distraction from the resolution of the drama we have just watched for two hours.

It is also rather odd when considered from an in-universe perspective. 20, maybe 25-year-old girl: "What?! A dude murdered a few people?! Say, this reminds me of the wheelchair-bound fellow who bombed a train 17 years ago."

I'm so into the Shyamalan Cinematic Universe. It didn't change my grade, but it had me walking out of the theater feeling good.

The rest of the movie is great too. McAvoy is brilliant. The music is incredible, I'd have it above all 2016 scores on my ballot. My biggest issue is that none of the women got a very satisfying resolution. I was thinking the Doc would take his side, but she just dies brutally. And giving the other girls so much hope with that hanger, only to have them be eaten all the same was cruel. Obviously one has to assume that Casey is not going back to her Uncle, otherwise its just very grim all around.

But even if she still is getting raped and cut, Bruce Willis is on the way! Can't wait for Unbreakable v Split.

Split veers off from M Night Shyamalan's more creative material of of the last 15 years and returns for a quick cash-in on the fashionable superhero market. Especially disappointing is Shyamalan's exploitation of the old mental illness as a blessing trope. But otherwise, there's nothing really wrong with Split - McAvoy is always reliable and the story isn't too too slow. It's just lazy. But, if it pays for another decade of creative freedom, I'm in! *B+*

The twist explains how McAvoy could've survived two shotgun shots to the chest. There's no logic to it without it.

The twist made the movie for me. Before it the movie was okay. But then Bruce Willis's bald head showed up and I had a huge smile on my face. I can't believe Night was allowed to do it. As you said, not too many people under 25 are going to get it. And it might undermine Taylor-Joy's plotline a little. Yet it's paid off.

B+

Can't wait to rewatch this.

*** / ***** (C)

Decent movie, but it's never really suspenseful or edge of your seat thrilling as it thinks it is. The big reveal of The Horde is really underwhelming. James McAvoy is great and it and you can see he had fun with the role.

And let's be honest - those three girls could've taken him over at the start if they attacked at the same time - claw his eyes out, kick him in the balls - you got six hands with long nails and six legs to hit the mark. Those are some pretty good chances. But as the usual horror cliche they all decide to be brave one at the time. Yawn...

I'm over the moon with that ending. I've been wanting a continuation of Unbreakable ever since I saw it. It truly made the movie for me as it changes everything to look at the movie with a comic book-scope.

McAvoy was brilliant as expected and Anya Taylor-Joy does hold on her own as well. The movie has some pacing issues but overall a great watch. The twist ending wasn't as great for me specially given what we have seen earlier in the movie but if they make a movie out of it, then I am game for it. The worst part is the psychiatrist she was just there to build unnecessary tension and was rather useless in the end even her help didn't really turned out to be help in the end. Regardless of that this was a great experience specially for McAvoy, Shyamalan has done better stuffs before.

7/10

Split

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck! Unbreakable 2! This is such a sensational and progressively intense watch, and that ending, my jaw hit the floor. So glad I wasn't spoiled on it. As soon as I heard the music from Unbreakable I thought "hmmm, M. Night's re-using some music there". Did not even twig that the film was in the same universe. Then the diner scene! Awesome, awesome stuff, and what a fucking performance by McAvoy. Anya Taylor-Joy was also fantastic, and fucking smoking. Shyamalan is back. Finally.

A

This really threw me off as I love Unbreakable's theme, and I was worried they were re-using music too. Then they blew my mind.