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 & 19 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:

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

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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

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Page Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 January 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

Split

Filming Locations:

Sun Center Studios, Aston, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$40,010,975, 20 January 2017, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$138,291,365

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$278,454,358

Company Credits

Production Co:

Blinding Edge Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, Dentsu

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Inspiration for the movie, real-life multiple-personality Billy Milligan (February 13, 1955 - December 12, 2014), charged with three rapes, was the first person diagnosed with multiple personality disorder to use an insanity defense by reason of that disorder, and also first to be acquitted thus. Milligan had 24 personalities, consisting of 10 Desirables: Billy Milligan, Arthur, Ragen Vadascovinich, Allen, Tommy, Danny, David, Christene, Christopher, and Adalana; and 13 Undesirables: Phil, Kevin, Walter, April, Samuel, Mark, Steve, Lee, Jason, Bobby, Shawn, Martin, and Timothy; and The Teacher, a fusion of all of the other personalities.

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Goofs

Immediately before Dennis knocks out Claire and Marcia in Mr. Benoit's car he locks all the car doors, but a moment later, Casey opens the passenger side door, which is clearly shown to be unlocked.

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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, ...
[...]

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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

Followed by Glass (2019)

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Soundtracks

Frogbass
Written by Frederik Durand, Arthur Baker and Gavin Christopher
Performed by Snails
Courtesy of Kannibalen Records

User Reviews

It maybe gets a bit too fantastical, but it's still an awesome thriller

I was surprised to see that this movie was released last year (as I'm writing this) and I didn't heard about it, taking in consideration how promising the plot is.

Split is about three girls get kidnapped by a man with dissociative identity disorder (DID) that has 23 personalities. I have to say that this movie does not represent what DID really is and how people who struggle with it are, mainly because this movie gets a bit too fantastical sometimes. It doesn't try to be strictly realistic though, so it's an awesome thriller anyway.

The movie gives you chills since the very start with an awesome acting by James McAvoy and some seriously good still scenes. The overall scenes make you have a weird feeling, something it succeeds to transfer to the viewer that you probably won't be able to describe. That makes this thriller stand out in a good way.

Maybe Split makes a unrealistic representation of dissociative identity disorder, and that can be a big turnoff, but this is a great movie nonetheless.