Split (2016)

Three girls are kidnapped by a man with a diagnosed 23 distinct personalities. They must try to escape before the apparent emergence of a frightful new 24th.

Director:

M. Night Shyamalan

Writer:

M. Night Shyamalan

Stars:

James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Haley Lu Richardson

9 wins & 24 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James McAvoy	...	Dennis / Patricia / Hedwig / The Beast / Kevin Wendell Crumb / Barry / Orwell / Jade
Anya Taylor-Joy	...	Casey Cooke
Betty Buckley	...	Dr. Karen Fletcher
Haley Lu Richardson	...	Claire Benoit
Jessica Sula	...	Marcia
Izzie Coffey	...	Five-Year-Old Casey (as Izzie Leigh Coffey)
Brad William Henke	...	Uncle John
Sebastian Arcelus	...	Casey's Father
Neal Huff	...	Mr. Benoit
Ukee Washington	...	News Anchor
Ann Wood	...	Game Show Enthusiast
Robert Michael Kelly	...	Joe
M. Night Shyamalan	...	Jai / Hooters Lover
Rosemary Howard	...	Kevin's Mother
Jerome Gallman	...	Vince, Security Guard

Storyline

Though Kevin (James McAvoy) has evidenced 23 personalities to his trusted psychiatrist, Dr. Fletcher (Betty Buckley), there remains one still submerged who is set to materialize and dominate all of the others. Compelled to abduct three teenage girls led by the willful, observant Casey, Kevin reaches a war for survival among all of those contained within him -- as well as everyone around him -- as the walls between his compartments shatter.

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Plot Keywords:

multiple personality disorder | psychological thriller | kidnapping | teenage girl | villain played by lead actor | 

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Taglines:

Kevin has 23 distinct personalities. The 24th is about to be unleashed.

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

James McAvoy broke his knuckle while filming on location in Philadelphia. He continued to perform his role for three days before letting on that he was injured and finally sought attention at a local UrgentCare. As a result he was forced to work with an injury on the set of Atomic Blonde (2017) as well.

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Goofs

When young Casey Cooke was in a make-shift hunting blind learning to hunt, it was obviously in the fall time because the ground was fully covered with colored leaves that had fallen from the trees. In the same scene, you can clearly see that all of the trees had thick green leaves on them indicating that it was not that late in the fall season.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Claire Benoit: [about Casey standing over in the corner] That's what happens when you do a mercy invite.
Mr. Benoit: I believed you wanted to invite everyone.
Claire Benoit: Dad, I can't invite everyone in my art class except for one person without social networking evidence inflicting more pain on that person than was intended. And I'm not a monster.
Mr. Benoit: I'm proud of you. I think.
Claire Benoit: She gets detention a lot and she yells at teachers sometimes. There was that rumor that went around that she just kept running away from home.
Marcia: Um, maybe ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

The end credits are shown in 24 frames in the background of the scrolling credits to simulate the 24 different personalities that Kevin has in the movie.

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Connections

References The Village (2004)

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Soundtracks

Day You Left Me in September
Written by Slam Allen (as Harrison Allen Jr.)
Performed by Slam Allen
Courtesy of LoveCat Music

User Reviews

Don't believe the One Star reviews...

After watching this movie, I have to say, I don't understand all the one and two star reviews. This is a return to form for the director of the excellent SIXTH SENSE and UNBREAKABLE. I haven't enjoyed most of his output since those first two films, but only titles like his misguided LAST AIRBENDER and the truly terrible THE HAPPENING are deserving of such low marks. I've seen a few real one star movies, and SPLIT isn't one of them. It's definitely worthy of higher marks. I can only assume those who didn't like it are trying to lower the average rather than rank it realistically somewhere closer to 4 or 5 stars (although I'd rank it higher).

It's a lot of fun. James MacAvoy is great in a subgenre that is normally pretty insipid (ie dissociative identity disorder movies). He deliveres a great performance that really helps to carry this film, and Betty Buckley also gives a notably outstanding performance in her supporting role.

Is it as good as THE SIXTH SENSE? No. Is it worth seeing? Absolutely. I'd happily see it again.

As for those reviewers who are upset that movies like this distort the public perceptions about mental illness, I can only assume they are too close to that subject to be truly objective.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Page Official site

Country:

USA Japan

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 January 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled M. Night Shyamalan Project

Filming Locations:

Sun Center Studios, Aston, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$40,010,975, 22 January 2017

Gross USA:

$138,291,365

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$278,454,417

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Blinding Edge Pictures, Blumhouse Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1