MOVIE REVIEW: SPLIT

Rating: 4 stars

Movie Description:

When three girls are kidnapped by a man with 24 different personalities they have work out which of those personalities will help them escape and which of those personalities will try to stop them.

My Review:

Thank you to Supanova Pop Culture Expo, Universal Pictures and Event Cinemas for giving me the opportunity to view an exclusive preview screening of Split.

I’d first like to point out that this is a psychological thriller and one certainly not for the faint hearted  - I personally was curled up in what was almost the fetal position because I’m not someone who would ever watch horror movies.

Split has received a lot of mixed reviews and the main point of discussion is the film’s depiction of mental illness, in particular dissociative identity disorder (DID). I’d like to point out that I personally do not support the depiction of DID; I saw this movie for reviewing purposes and because I am a fan of James McAvoy’s acting.

The premise of Split is one quite often found in horror films, classic kidnapping of three teenage girls who try their best to escape their prison. In this film, the abductor doesn’t have a specific motive such as family/friend related matters and instead has an exaggerated case od DID – I say “exaggerated” because being a movie, it’s fiction and stories can easily be turned into something completely different.

James McAvoy has portrayed an array of characters ranging from the loveable Mr Tumnus in Narnia, the ever-charming Robbie Turner in Atonement and his more well known role as young Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men series. He takes on quite a different turn in not just portraying one character but he shows 9 out of 24 characters on-screen. McAvoy tackles the task set out for him with subtle changes in his body language and shift in facial muscles to change between characters.

Split is good enough in my opinion to overlook the badly exaggerated depiction of mental illness. I was hanging onto my seat from beginning to end, James McAvoy’s acting left me utterly speechless and completely blew my mind with an intense ending.

Think Lovely Thoughts xo