Review on M. Night Shyamalan's Split (2017) - A Psychological Roller Coaster Ride

 “An individual with multiple personalities can change their body chemistry with their thoughts.” (Dr. Karen Fletcher, Kevin's psychologist)

Revealed in the quote above, Split is a thought-provoking film about mental health. As an introduction, Split is a horror-thriller film starring James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Betty Buckley and more. Premiered in the annual film festival, “Fantastic Fest” on 26^th of September, 2016, it was released under Universal Pictures in the United States on 20^th of January, 2017 (Hoffman, 2016). This film was a brainchild of M. Night Shyamalan, a director, producer, writer, as well as actor for multiple popular films such as The Sixth Sense (1999), Unbreakable (2000), and Signs (2002). As it is directed and written by M. Night Shyamalan, Split bears the special characteristics of his films; Split was filled with contemporary supernatural, horror, mysterious elements, all heading to a surprise twist in the ending.

Furthermore, the theme of the film Split centers around two characters: Kevin Wendell Crumb (starring James McAvoy) – a man with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) or Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) developed from his painful past filled with traumas caused by his mother’s abusive behaviour , and Casey Cooke (played by Anya Taylor-Joy) – a teenage girl with a traumatic past, as she was abused from a young age by her uncle who became her legal guardian after her father’s death. To explain the backstory of the two characters, due to Kevin’s painful and traumatic pasts, where Kevin’s father passed away when Kevin was young, and mother who was severely ill with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) abused young Kevin, thus, Kevin developed DID and was diagnosed with 23 split personalities which were “alters” – alternate personalities which could come out into the light and takeover Kevin as the host in his body, and it was anticipated that the 24^th personality – the Beast would soon overtake Kevin’s self, to conquer. Similarly, Casey was sexually abused since she was a child, by her uncle. She came to realize that she was actually abused...but the realization happened only after she has grown up into a teenager, causing her to be a misfit among her high-school classmates, and to avoid going home to be abused by her uncle, she often created trouble for herself at school so she could be held in school for detention. The interactions and actions from these two main characters has depicted the theme of the film which was centered about effects of abuse in young children in terms of mental health and subsequently, their developed behaviour.

In short, this film tells a story about three teenager girls, Casey, Claire and Marcia being abducted and held captive by a man with DID, Kevin, and their attempt to escape, there were 3 out of 24 main alters of Kevin which dominated Kevin’s psychological self: Dennis, Patricia and Hedwig which in later part of the story tries to bring out the 24^th alter which was “the Beast” (seen in the trailer below). As “the Beast” was taking control over Kevin and all his alters, his physical body changed into a somewhat immortal and powerful body (BBFC, 2017).This story brought out the meaning behind Dr. Fletcher’s saying which was also shown in the start of the review : 

“An individual with multiple personalities can change their body chemistry with their thoughts”. (Quote was shown also in trailer embedded below)

Trailer of Split

One of the most appealing element of this film is its psychological elements. As it was based on the main character, Kevin’s DID, it contributed to an array of “alters” as the characters which were diverse, having each of their own habits, behaviour and personalities. According to Madison Verhulst (2017), who investigated and compared DID in films in her paper titled ""Psycho," "Fight Club," and "Split:" Dissociative Identity Disorder in Film", M. Night Shyamalan's utilized DID as a plot device in this film. Furthermore, Split has drastically exceeded audience's perceived expectations and previous knowledge, as it has the most accurate potrayal as one of the films using DID in its plot (as compared to Psycho and Fight Club). In my opinion, the technique of using DID to draw attentions of the audiences was one of the main reasons why the film was a success. M. Night Shyamalan's genius skill in translating DID into visual and audio elements, in the form of cinematic experience, guiding and surprising audiences with computer generated (CG) effects, bizzare and mysterious clues and complementary sound effects such as background music- all these have brought the film into greater heights, leaving a lasting impression in the audiences heart and mind. In terms of psychological elements, it is also a key factor for DID to be the main attraction of the film. As Kevin has DID which also caused him to have a diverse set of personalities and "alters", the consequence of having different psychological identities in one body, or "host", Kevin had as much as 24 alters, but there were three alters which were more powerful as a character in the film, namely Dennis, Patricia and Hedwig; they were complementary characters which work like puzzle pieces in completing the film as a big picture. Dennis was the strong, OCD influenced man alter who abducted the three teenager girls in the starting of the story, whereas, Patricia was the elegant, strict and British-accented woman alter who watched after the girls, and finally Hedwig was the 9-year-old, mischievous boy alter who interacted and talked to the girls. Thus, this major element of the film was the most appealing and interesting for me as well. This is because psychology is very much relatable for everyone, as it involves our emotions, feelings, thoughts in many ways. 

Other than that, one great thing about this film, is the acting performance of the lead actor, who was James McAvoy. His performance in Split was also highly praised. In general, McAvoy's performance was of high agility and precision, bringing complex alters such as Dennis, Patricia and Hedwig to life (Bishop, 2017; Lemire, 2017). Although I am nowhere near a professional in film, but even as a typical student, his acting seemed so outstanding to me. James could portray and breathe life into Kevin and his alters in the film. Not only that, he could distinctively switch between the different alters, bringing the meaning to the title of the film, "Split", as he marvelously shows how split Kevin was into his 24 alters. It takes a great deal of effort, talent and determination for someone to be good in something, however, for McAvoy himself, he could pull his job so well at portraying Dennis, Patricia, Hedwig, as well as the Beast, it is an inspirational and satisfying experience to watch his excellent performance in this challenging role. Catch a glimpse on his potrayal of many alters in the video clip below:

As M. Night Shyamalan was known for his horror-thriller films, Split was nonetheless, a masterpiece in terms of its cinematic effects. From what I have learnt during class about film and cinema, it is observed from this film that there was a huge obvious contrast between Kevin and his alters and Casey. It can be seen that they have wide difference between each other; Kevin's alters - Dennis, Patricia, Hedwig and the Beast was portrayed in a such a way that they bring an uncomfortable, dark, and dangerous feeling in contrast to Casey which was perceived to be witty, willful, brave, and draws empathy from the audiences. It is indeed that this concept of contrast creates an interesting element for the audience to enjoy. Besides that, Shyamalan has made sure that the audience could experience walking in the shoes of the characters. For example, in a scene where Claire (one of the abducted teenage girls) attempts an escape, a long shot was used and captured her escape as she runs in an isolated place, the scene was done in a "chase" cutting and there was an interesting scene whereby Claire hid inside a locker and trying not to be discovered by Dennis. Moreover, it is observed that lighting was extensively used to create the dark and scary tone as Claire tries to escape. Lighting, combined with different sound effects (diegetic - door closing, running, panting; and non-diegetic - background music, "HEY!" in the background) created the feelings of fear/desperation and invoked an adrenaline rush in the audiences who are following the film scenes closely. These effects explained can be seen in the video clip below. 

Overall, the storyline was comparable to a roller coaster ride - it was definitely filled with ups and downs, occasionally sprinkled with little surprises of dark humour, attracting audience's full attention in and out of the plots. From the film's editing and sequences of the scenes, M. Night Shyamalan reveals the story behind the characters, guiding and challenging the audiences' thoughts to learn about the character's behaviour, personality. Like a puzzle, the scenes and backstories from the past, with the help of the role of the character Dr. Fletcher are like the puzzle pieces which the audiences can build from the bits and pieces of the details into a big picture in their minds, depicting and unfolding the storyline. It is also said that the story provokes and challenges the audience's minds, as this film allows audiences to learn about mental illnesses, particularly DID. Personally, I learned a whole lot more about mental disorders through this film, because the way the characters unveil the story puts me into their shoes, and re-think of mental health. I learned that as a human being, we should never judge other people, and we should understand their behaviour or actions; after all, we are all human - we feel emotions and feelings, we have different thoughts and backgrounds which shapes our psychological selves uniquely. 

Another important take-away message which was illustrated through the film was about mental health. Split has successfully raised awareness on mental health in the society, and hopefully, more people learn to take care of their mental health, and care for those who are suffering. However, there were voices which criticized about Split whereby it has caused a stigma towards patients with DID. According to Lindsay Dodgson (2017), people who are diagnosed with DID claims that Split has wrongly portrayed the disorder. However, it is understandable that DID in the film was exaggerated for its cinematic effects. Moreover, Madison Verhulst (2017) reported in her paper that M. Night Shyamalan did proper research and referred to experts on the portrayal of DID in this film. As a resolution, the effects of this film on audiences of different backgrounds should be investigated for an accurate and unbiased result for future references. 

In conclusion, Split was a film featuring a story which has depth and diversity to it, that it is filled with emotionally and mentally provoking scenes and challenging ideas. Its lead actor - James McAvoy's outstanding performance, combined with the plot twists, cinematic effects and surprising plot twisting elements from M. Night Shyamalan, Split is a remarkable masterpiece. The film has brought many messages and thoughts to the audiences, leaving a deep impression for many people, and it can be used as an inspiration for future films which are similar in context. Thus, as I am truly satisfied and impressed on this film, I highly recommend it to those who seeks a splash of dark humour, a bucket of thrill, with a ton of psychological elements laced together in an interesting storyline and high quality acting. 

“Change your thoughts and you change your world” 

Film Review done by Bux Shun Yi (TCM1609493) for G0106

***Citations equipped with hyperlink as references are not listed.