M. Night Shyamalan is a controversial name amongst the film community. He has been praised for his early films like the Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, but people nowadays mostly think of his more recent work like The Last Airbender, The Happening, and After Earth. His recent streak of bad films has made Shyamalan more of a punch line than anything else, but I am glad to say that his new film, Split, breaks this trend.

Split is about three teenage girls who get kidnapped by a strange man named Kevin, played by James McAvoy. As the film goes on, the girls discover that Kevin suffers from split personality disorder, each of which have different emotions and memories. The girls must find a way to escape before the “beast” comes for them.

The concept of Split could have easily come off as cartoony, but it comes off as very tense and nerve racking thanks to a masterful performance by McAvoy. In my opinion, this is the best acting I have seen from McAvoy, who has been great in the X-Men films as Professor Xavier. He really shows his range in this film transforming into each of the different personalities,but what really impressed me was McAvoy’s physical performance. For each personality, he would have a different posture and way of walking and I found that fascinating. Anya Taylor-Joy who took the role of the main girl Casey was also great. Her character had a troubled past, as seen through flashbacks, which allowed Joy to show off her range as an actress through many emotional scenes throughout the film.

Shyamalan’s directing shines in this film. He does a great job creating this creepy world the audience experiences. The way the shots are arranged with various sounds really creates a tense and uncomfortable environment for the audience. This is a Shyamalan film, which means there must be a twist, and the twist works. It helps make some of the unbelievable aspects of the film have some sense to it. If you are familiar with Shyamalan’s previous work, you will get a nice kick out of the ending.

Split is a return to form for Shyamalan. The film hooks its audience with incredible performances and great direction by Shyamalan. This is a film that is absolutely worth checking out in the theater.

Score: 8/10