Split (2016) Poster

(II) (2016)

User Reviews

Review this title
12 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
1/10
I got duped into watching this thinking it was Part 2 of Unbreakable series.
wjeffmontgomery21 February 2022
Warning: Spoilers
This was a weird ass movie. A dancer get jacked off on and marrying a guy she doesn't know, and he's nuts and all while doing some crazy play about a bunch of dirty naked middle aged women. I was lost the entire time. Good luck.
2 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
1/10
What a mess this is
machrf3 February 2022
No wonder why modern women are messed up with garbage and insane views such as this movie. No sane man would get involved with a woman such as portrayed in this movie. Nor any actress that would willingly take part in this garbage.
1 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
1/10
Worst movie I've ever seen
connorob-1889617 July 2023
Warning: Spoilers
This was 2 hours of my life I will never get back. I regret every second I watched. I thought I was watching the other "Split" for the first 45 minutes and realized I was watching this. Watched the rest through and I hated every single second. Holy cow was this truly awful.

Plot below: Inanna (Amy Ferguson) joins an experimental theater group that works on the Mesopotamian myth of Inanna, and more specifically on the liberation of enslaved women. After a few rehearsals, she comes to the conclusion that she does not possess the primal rage and the raw longing for freedom that the other women in the play possess. In a most upsetting scene, these women tell how they have been victims of extreme (sexualized) violence. At the same time, Inanna falls head over heels in love with Derek, a mask maker (Morgan Spector), and marries him. Right from the start, she adapts her life to his, while he refuses to change anything in his own life. He doesn't even stop the affair he had with his assistant (Antonia Campbell-Hughes), claiming that she was there first. Inanna soon realizes that she is losing her identity while getting nothing in return. Profoundly wounded and feeling like drowning, she is now able to express the primal rage and the raw longing for freedom that the play requires from her.
0 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Dark, intense, confusing, but all around interesting
TheInfamousAnon22 March 2017
I normally would never review anything, but I saw the score this film had on here and A review and I felt it was given a disservice. I personally watched the film by mistake assuming it was Split with James McAvoy and only realized about 30 minutes in it was not, being so far in I decided to finish the film, AS any courteous film viewer would.

The film as a whole is confusing, from the beginning it does not let you know what the true plot or point is, it leaves you in the same state the main character is in, facing the unknown. And as it develops you realize you are on a journey of self discovery with the lead Inanna(Amy Ferguson) and really a exploration of female sexuality and an unequal relationship. The true joy and beauty of the piece is the unapologetic female nudity and sexuality, at many moments there are women of all body types and races on screen and in no way do they feel sexualized by the male gaze or devalued in anyway. I found the male lead delightful, Derek(Morgan Spector) was played very well and the character felt deep and addled throughout, but just together enough for you to feel the same as Inanna as she falls for him. The film was supported by many great actors and actresses who made the whole feel thick and real, it hit on many issues worth thought and i would recommend this film to anyone who enjoys sexuality and intense self realization pieces. Though I must say there is a lot of sex and nudity so anyone faint of heart should think before watching but personally I say go for it.

The movie is by Deborah Kampmeier, I have not seen her other films (Virgin, HOUNDDOG) but because of this film I am going to go watch them.
15 out of 23 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Let it all out
yasir-9941424 November 2023
This movie is not for everyone it's for a group of people maybe studying method acting or theater, this is really an intense and emotionally charged movie with a very different story. My only gripe was the movie had too many people crying and sadness, but I think Amy Ferguson has done a great acting job. She carried out the movie with her acting , her counterpart the sculpture, the mask maker did not carry himself consistently. I understand what the Director was trying to do was trying to build out for the end that Amy playing the character of Illeana has not shown emotions she accepted whatever until the point of her buttons pushed, and she was ready to go to her performance with true emotions. The movie was directed but a woman and it had women's point of you that we men normally didn't see.

I had to watch it on 3 different sessions because of the too much crying.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
Shedding Light on Complex Relationships
adalaur18 October 2017
Having read about this film as part of a few film festivals I was intrigued and yet hesitant to watch it myself. I knew that it was about a very emotionally challenging relationship and experiences. As things happen, it resurfaced right at the right time, following a break up and challenging custody agreement process I was in. This movie does not shy away from the challenges and experiences we as humans go through in the attempt to relate, love and build lives together with other humans. And in particular it brings to the forefront how our innocence, expectations, earlier emotional wounds greatly impact how we exist and relate to others. For women, I believe this movie begins to create a way to peal off layers we have put on to face the world, to ultimately heal our own wounds by acknowledging and accepting them as wounds.

I would say for any woman that has had a relationship with challenges in relating, which I feel is most relationships (also between friends and family) this film begins to create a means of talking about why it can be so difficult to be in relationship.

The scenes from the theatrical play group within the movie are so cinematically beautiful and the female nudity which is presented is so raw and real and natural.
5 out of 11 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Powerful and provoking
okpilak9 November 2023
Inanna works as a stripper, but aspires to a higher calling, and tries out for a dance troupe that has an experimental dance program highlighting the abuse and violence that women across the globe face, in a very in-your-face manner. The director is certain Inanna is perfect for the role, while others are not sure. The troupe uses masks, and Derek makes them, and Inanna falls in love with him, and eventually marries him. However, he gives her nothing in response, and not even affection, so she has to face her decisions. He does not, however strike her, instead strikes himself over his actions. Some of the scenes seem surreal, so did they even happen? Other scenes apparently have happened only in the person's imagination. The dance program is very stylistic and symbolic and also intense. After all, the emotions they are dealing with are also intense. And when Inanna finds out Derek is cheating on him, while withholding affection from her, the impact is even stronger. It can be overwhelming at times and confusing.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Stunning!
films4228 August 2015
This stunning new film uses familiar images from prior Kampmeier films (e.g., the naked women in the lake in VIRGIN, the snakes in HOUNDDOG, etc) to go in daring new directions that are even deeper, darker & more rewarding.

Amy Ferguson is very good as "Inanna" (an actress piecing together a career in New York's Indie Theatre scene), but Morgan Spector is a revelation as "Derek" (a tormented artist who makes brilliant theatrical masks which seem to have been born in Julie Taymor's worst nightmares).

SPLIT is not for the faint of heart & I have no doubt it will prove to be just as controversial as VIRGIN and HOUNDDOG. But remember this: no one knew Elizabeth Moss before Kampmeier cast her as the lead in VIRGIN, and Dakota Fanning had only played kid roles before Kampmeier cast her as the lead in HOUNDDOG. She also cast Robin Wright in key supporting roles in both films. So if actresses of this stature have put their trust in Deborah Kampmeier, then so should you!
15 out of 51 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
A most intelligent cry of revolt against violence perpetrated on women
renhir25 March 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Inanna (Amy Ferguson) joins an experimental theater group that works on the Mesopotamian myth of Inanna, and more specifically on the liberation of enslaved women. After a few rehearsals, she comes to the conclusion that she does not possess the primal rage and the raw longing for freedom that the other women in the play possess. In a most upsetting scene, these women tell how they have been victims of extreme (sexualized) violence. At the same time, Inanna falls head over heels in love with Derek, a mask maker (Morgan Spector), and marries him. Right from the start, she adapts her life to his, while he refuses to change anything in his own life. He doesn't even stop the affair he had with his assistant (Antonia Campbell-Hughes), claiming that she was there first. Inanna soon realizes that she is losing her identity while getting nothing in return. Profoundly wounded and feeling like drowning, she is now able to express the primal rage and the raw longing for freedom that the play requires from her.
4 out of 11 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Interesting film on the theme of female sexuality
chrismccaffrey21 February 2021
Such movies are very rare and almost unheard of in English. It's not a total success but is an interesting exploration of relationships and sexual dynamics from an explicit perspective.
0 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
This Movie Is A Hot Mess But I Couldn't Stop Watching
daddygracenyc8 November 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I don't know where to start trying to describe this movie because I would go mentally insane. The characters Inanna and Derek needed some mental health counseling or they should be on psychiatric drugs. I recently became familiar with Morgan Spector as an actor in the HBO series, The Gilded Age. Not only is Morgan very attractive and sexy, he is a great actor but underrated. What I do like about the movie, Split, Morgan Spector does full frontal nudity and gay men and women will not be disappointed. Although, his character Derek had mental health issues, I found him to be very sexy and a turn on that kept me watching this hot mess of a movie. LOL.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
shocking and artistic
juliasample28 October 2023
I don't believe I have ever had a film bring such PTSD from my past abuse before. The acting was so... so utterly real and beautiful and impressive, that it triggered me into an entire episode. I paused to movie to cry and scream about my own abuse from a man as a woman... when I haven't for years. I thought I had moved past it, but the heart has a way of coming back. They wrote the abuse realistically and very well done. Her blindness, her obsession, her apologies, her fears, when she said, "I'd die without him." The advice that she was given by her friend, and GOD her screams. WOW. Her screams. This actress deserves it all. And so does that actor and well... everybody!

The metaphors of him pulling the women off of her to reach her was gorgeous. The openness given to us to interpret everything we want is notable. To see him hit himself, to cry, and to have such a charming but manipulative character was so believable that it was triggering. Well done.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed