Twist aficionado M. Night Shyamalan smartly scaled back with last year’s The Visit, a found-footage horror film that earned reviews far more positive than any of the bigger-budget movies that the director has produced in the entire decade prior. Now, he’s looking to build on that relative success with Split, a psychological thriller that appears very much in the spirit of what has rendered Shyamalan so distinct—and so divisive—over his long, bumpy career.
James McAvoy stars as a mysterious man suffering from an extreme case of dissociative identity disorder (formerly multiple personality disorder). When one of his personalities, “Kevin,” abducts three teenage girls, a torrent of confusion and paranoia sends the man into a haunted panic. The film co-stars, among others, The Witch breakout Anya Taylor-Joy and People v. O.J. Simpson scene-stealer Sterling K. Brown.
The film might amount to nothing more than the middling, overstylized Shyamalan we’ve grown accustomed to—but regardless, McAvoy is a fascinating choice for what promises to be a demanding and complex role. He alone could make this worth watching.
Split opens Jan. 20, 2017.
