In what is a twist almost as unexpected as the shocking ending of the Academy Award nominated The Sixth Sense (1999) itself,  M. Night Shyamalan’s career is back on track. The filmmaker, who was once described as the next Steven Spielberg, lost his way rather shockingly after his last good film, Signs, in 2002. Since then, he turned into something of a punchline, first for over-indulging in twists in his supernatural thrillers, and then for showing his limitations when he switched over to big-budget productions such as The Last Airbender (2010) and After Earth(2013), both of which were considered to be among the worst films of their calendar years.

This is the creepiest film M. Night Shyamalan has ever made

Last year’s The Visit saw the Indian-born director return to the low-budget supernatural genre. Although the film wasn’t exceptional, it offered enough to excite his fans. Well, if Split is any indication, then Shyamalan has certainly rediscovered his form. Split is easily Shyamalan’s best film in over a decade (which to be fair, isn’t saying much). More precisely, Split is one of his best films, full stop.

And yes, Split carries a twist, and yes, as a fan of his early work, I was completely taken by surprise and blown away. So too were the Shyamalan fans in the packed Toronto theater where I saw the film, who released gasps followed by cheers. Without giving too much away, it was just great fan service from Shyamalan, and gave another dimension not only to some of his earlier work, but Split as well.

Again, without giving too much away, don’t assume that Split is an authentic character study about a man with a deep psychological disorder, or you may be offended by the over-the-top characterisation of the villain, Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy) — he suffers from 23 different personalities and kidnaps three young girls, including Casey Cooke (Anya Taylor-Joy), Claire Benoit (Haley Lu Richardson) and Marcey (Jessica Sula). Rather, take it as a fantastical portrayal like some of Shyamalan’s other work, or perhaps even a Marvel film.

Like Shyamalan’s other supernatural thrillers, the plot of Split is simple at least on the surface. After Kevin kidnaps the girls, he exhibits his various personalities in his interactions with his captives, freaking them out completely. The two performances by the leads are marvelous. McAvoy is riveting in his role, thoroughly frightening yet also evoking empathy. He has excellent chemistry with Taylor-Joy, which suits Split well, because the duo’s relationship is at the heart of the film.

Shyamalan’s technical prowess is on full display here, with his deliberate camera work and masterful editing creating a supremely-chilling film overflowing with tension. This is the creepiest film Shyamalan has ever made, with some truly horrific sequences, punctuated at times with some dark humor.  

Split isn’t perfect though. While most of the slow-pacing adds to the compelling nature of the drama some scenes do come across as contrived. For instance, Casey has flashbacks about her own disturbing childhood that creates a connection between her and Kevin. While these scenes were necessary they weren’t meshed into the film particularly well and disturbed the pacing.

Perhaps the most miraculous aspect to Split is that its production budget was a meagre nine million dollars, which is minuscule even for a low-budget horror flick. That Split has dominated the box office so far means a sequel is almost certainly a guarantee, a fact that will please anyone who cheered at the surprise ending.

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for disturbing thematic content and behavior, violence and some language

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine February 5th, 2017