Split

Finally! A couple of years after I declared war on Shyamalan, the formerly miraculous revelation of mystery cinema, and condemned his more recent works with a series of expletives, the stubborn Indian managed to hold his own and in less than two hours didn’t make me sleepy, angry or bored. Split may not match the claustrophobic atmosphere of Signs or the subtlety of Unbreakable, but the overall concept of a narrative based on the gradual unveiling of the two main characters, the hunter and the victim, is outrageously appealing and, hand in hand with the impeccable performance of McAvoy, and Taylor-Joy and the director's renewed sense of intense and believable tension, creates an impulsive whirlwind of interesting filmmaking ideas and games. I was a little disappointed by the lack of any truly surprising twists, but if Shyamalan has longer term plans for this fictional world (as the final scene suggests), as an interlude, Split is more than satisfying and successful. The climax with the shotgun in the gloomy corridors is the best in years. (18/04/2017)

I, too, feel split about this film, but given that it's celebrating a milestone (it has correctly topped the 3000 rated film number) it deserves a weaker four stars. So I'll start with the praise. James McAvoy, I've noticed a marked improvement in him lately and few could deliver such an intense performance as he does here, but the biggest discovery is Anya Taylor-Joy, who has already shown in both The Witch and Morgan that horror is the way to go. Here, on top of that, she shows that she has more than just kissable tits and her naturally beautiful shape literally took my breath away. That at 20 she can even play tears so believably, hats off to her, this girl is going to do great things. I also liked the appealing cinematography and definitely a breath of fresh air to the kidnap thriller genre. The finale is pretty intense, too. There are more issues though. The first thing that jumps out is the level of humour, not that I didn't laugh, but it didn't really suit a disturbing psychothriller. Also, the trailer and promotion touts 23 different identities in one body, but in the film we only get 5, of which 3 are interesting. The flashbacks and scenes with the psychologist severely slow-down the pace and are boring. And don't expect thrills or gore, this is a pure psychological thriller. I liked last year's The Visit much better, yet I admit that Shyamalan and James Wan are the only ones who can serve up solid mainstream horror. 70% (21/01/2017)

McAvoy's captivating showreel, which is very good for a long time, then sometimes it gets quite bad (because it is unreasonably long) and boldly sophisticated during the meta-closing... Or desperate that already missed the bus. I do not (yet) know, since neither I don´t have a clear opinion on this. It will depend a lot on whether or not it's over, because it's not finished. (20/01/2017)

McAvoy is a master. And there’s girls running about with shotguns dressed in their bras… Shyamalan has returned to what he does best. Slightly chilling, weird thrillers which, due to peculiar camera work, the studio mistakenly classifies as horror movies. Split has a fine premise and, even if McAvoy has far too many people on his plate (only about four characters are important), the screenplay doesn’t go off into exaggerated descriptions of the situation – just about enough not to spoil the fun. The leading girl’s flashbacks seem slightly random, but in the conclusion they fit into the fragmented puzzle about the uncle with a liking for little girls. Shy has nothing to be ashamed about, on the contrary, this will likely hoist him onto a wave of success. Let’s hope he deals with it wisely this time. (23/01/2017)

They say Shyamalan is back with this film, but I have the feeling that he never fully left. With a few exceptions, he's still doing the same stuff: ghost stories, or at least thrillers, often with naturalistic elements, where the primary role is played for 90 percent of the film's running time by a crystallizing twist that more or less shocks at the end. But once the rules are set, it's good to stick to them. And so, when the whole film has the undertone of the reality of the laws of physics of the contemporary world, it is good to stick to them for the whole duration, because that final game-changer irritated me a lot. And this is one of the reasons why Now You See Me, which pissed off many a film fan with its digital trick escapades, was a flop. Maybe at least McAvoy will get an award for his performance, it was awesome! (30/01/2017)