Split
2017 · Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
Original language: English
- horror
- thriller
The story
Though Kevin has evidenced 23 personalities to his trusted psychiatrist, Dr. Fletcher, there remains one still submerged who is set to materialize and dominate all 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 apart.
What it’s like
Cold, dim interiors in blue-grey and sickly fluorescent white, with the camera often close and restless, catching faces in tight frames and then pulling back to a stark, empty room. A pulsing strings-and-synth score builds under long stretches of near silence, so every sudden sound lands hard. Set in and around Philadelphia, it has the feel of a late-night thriller: tense, claustrophobic, and unsettling rather than lush. The pacing alternates slow, watchful dread with sharp bursts of panic, and the emotional register is cold and uneasy, with a hint of uneasy hope in its young captives. Its intensity is real: kidnapping, threat and psychological cruelty run throughout, with flashes of abuse and some brief, brutal gore and violence, though much of the horror is implied and built through atmosphere. It suits a dark night watched alone, for viewers who enjoy a tightly wound psychological thriller with a fantastical twist and can handle sustained menace.
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