Split is an American psychological thriller that keeps the viewer in suspense from beginning to end.
The film premiered in Russia on March 16, 2017. The film tells the story of a man in whose split mind many unique personalities coexist.
Plot
The film, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, begins with the kidnapping of three girls by a maniac. He locks them in the basement and tells them that they will meet with a certain Beast. It turns out that they were not kidnapped by an ordinary maniac, but by a person who combines 23 unique personalities. They replace each other and wait for the appearance of the 24th – the superman (the Beast). Only four are shown in the film. The rest are forced out and sent into the unconscious by two dominants: Dennis and Patricia (Horde).
The girls are trying to break free, but it’s hard to do. After an unsuccessful attempt to escape, they are settled in different rooms. Casey, one of the girls, is looking for an approach to a maniac. In parallel, fragments from the past of the heroine appear in the film. She is not like her friends, reserved and silent.
Barry, the personality that used to be dominant, is constantly striving to come out. When he succeeds, he sends emails to his primary care physician. Dr. Fletcher managed to unravel the messages and came to the place where the girls were hidden. But Dennis put her to sleep.
He goes to the railway station, where his father once left. It was there that the Beast awakened. He returns to the basement, kills the psychiatrist and two girls. Casey tries to get out. She says Kevin’s full name, after which the Beast transforms into him. He asks to kill himself and tells the girl where the gun with cartridges lies. But at the same moment, other personalities begin to wake up in him, including the Beast.
Casey manages to hit the maniac twice with a gun, but this does not cause him any harm. Only when he saw the scars on her body did he realize that she had experienced suffering, rejection, and therefore was not wicked. So he didn’t kill her and ran away. The girl was found by a zoo worker. It turned out that they were kept in the basement of the zoo, where the kidnapper worked.
The meaning of the film
A film about the superpowers of the human brain, which believes in its own strength. Science has proven that a person with the power of thought is able to change the chemical composition and structure of the body.
The hero of James McAvoy surprisingly reveals the characters. He perfectly got used to the role and lives his characters.
The director shows that broken and humiliated people can become more courageous and completely transformed. But this does not detract from their value. The film shows two ways out of this situation:
- Kevin’s path is to completely reincarnate, become physically stronger and turn into a killer.
- Casey’s path is to overcome himself, become mentally stronger and escape from a cruel guardian.
A drama about how childhood psychological trauma can distort the perception of oneself.
Characteristics of heroes
Kevin Wendell Crumb is the protagonist of the thriller. In childhood, their father left them with their mother, the mother treated her child very cruelly. As a result of childhood trauma, he developed a dissociative disorder. Personalities arose from attempts to protect themselves from cruelty. It has both positive and negative personalities. The mind of the hero is occupied by one or the other.
- Dennis is a maniac. Like his mother, he has obsessive-compulsive disorder. A nervous pedant, he is annoyed by any mess. One of the representatives of the Horde.
- Patricia is an ally of Dennis. A decent and strict woman, forbids touching captives. Perfectionism makes her unstable.
- Hedwig is a 9 year old boy. Feels weak and unloved in the family. He doesn’t want to be laughed at. Can control the body and go out into the light when she pleases.
- Barry is a gay fashion designer. For a long time he was responsible for what kind of individuality was to come into the light. He managed to control the Horde for a long period of time until he was suppressed.
- The beast is the most dangerous person. She is one of the strongest individuals. He believed that only those who suffer are “pure”, the rest of the people are wicked and deserve death. Only after going through suffering, people become better and purer.
The heroine of Betty Buckley, Dr. Fletcher, who studies mental disorders, considered Kevin a superhero. As a result, her patient turned out to be a villain, but not a superhero. She diligently tried to convince her ward that the Beast is a figment of the imagination and does not exist. She could easily tell when one was impersonating the other. But still, during the conversations, she could not foresee that one day Dennis would decide to kidnap the girls who would become a sacred victim for his 24 personalities.
The heroine of Anya Taylor-Joy, Casey Cook, is reserved and taciturn. Had a terrible experience as a child and her life is like a nightmare. It was this experience that made her prepared for such circumstances. She reasonably assesses the situation and tries to find a way to escape from the enclosed space. She was able to convey the necessary drama and made her sincerely worry about her character.
Claire and Marsha are minor characters. Spoiled and carefree girls from rich families. Dennis called them wicked virgins because they didn’t suffer. He hunted them down and chose them as victims.
Conclusion
The main character had a real prototype – Billy Milligan. He also had 24 personalities. Each was unique, with its own characteristics. He had a very difficult childhood. Splitting was a reaction to this. There is a lot of overlap between the stories of these characters. What distinguishes them is that Billy had a tendency to suicide and self-destruction, and Kevin, rather ready for violence, longed for the appearance of the Beast.
The final is open. There were more questions than answers.
James McAvoy’s acting is amazing. It would be interesting to watch the struggle of all the individuals within the main character. At the end of the picture there is a hint that the heroine will be able to free herself from the tyrant. Hopefully, she will be able to tell the police about her terrible life with a pervert guardian.
A terrible story, it looks beautiful on the screen and excites the interest of the viewer. Based on Daniel Keyes’ documentary novel The Many Minds of Billy Milligan.
After the credits, the movie is revealed to be a sequel to Unbreakable when David Dunn (Bruce Willis) appears on the screen.
In 2019, the third and final part of the Glass trilogy was released. You need to look at all the parts to get the whole picture.
