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Shyamalan's latest film, Split (starring James McAvoy and The Witch's Anya Taylor-Joy, and shot by It Follows's Mike Gioulakis), made its surprise debut at Fantastic Fest last night, and is getting maybe his best reviews since Sixth Sense.

The Narrator Returns wrote:Shyamalan's latest film, Split (starring James McAvoy and The Witch's Anya Taylor-Joy, and shot by It Follows's Mike Gioulakis), made its surprise debut at Fantastic Fest last night, and is getting maybe his best reviews since Sixth Sense.

Take that Hitchcock and DePalma: 23, count 'em, 23 distinct personalities! I can't see this playing as anything but camp. And I think it's safe to say that the twist this time is...

Spoiler

...the McAvoy character is a werewolf in addition to suffering from dissociative identity disorder.

I saw Split last weekend, and I'm honestly considering going back this weekend. This is terrific, with all the elements Shyamalan delivered in his heyday (creeping dread, formal rigor, oddball comedy, unexpected pathos) being present, in addition to two of the very finest performances in any Shyamalan film, from McAvoy and Taylor-Joy (Shyamalan puts a lot of faith in both throughout the movie, and they succeed at every turn). I also have to give credit to everyone who saw it at Fantastic Fest and didn't fess up to the movie's actual surprise ending (Roger Ryan's guess is close to the reality of what happens in the film, but that's much more a basic plot point than it is a spoiler)

I will say only that I'm surprised, because I've read enough of you on this forum to know that you're an intelligent fellow, and so your praise of the film is meaningful and I do not dismiss it lightly, but ... damn if it doesn't look like just about the worst thing ever made.

I will also vouch for it being a blast, and even moreso than last year's refreshingly solid The Visit, this displays a lot of what made Shyamalan's work so interesting and exciting once upon a time. Any former Shyamalan fans that have even the slightest interest in seeing this whatsoever, I would implore you to hit the theaters before the ending gets spoilt. Watching it unfold was the most visceral and unforgettable experience I've had at the cinema for a long while...

I'm keeping it vague, but seriously, don't click this if you want to go in cold

though that's largely due to what a huge role his previous work occupied in my life as a high school-aged budding cinephile. When *that* music started creeping in, and I recognized what it meant, my whole body was consumed with chills and I started laughing uncontrollably out of sheer joy. I didn't expect, in this day and age, that a surprise of this sort would even be possible to pull off.

I'm just wondering how much of Raising Cain is in this film.

(I'm trying to think of other multiple personality disorder films and the only one that's not a horror is Sally Field in Sybil!)

Me, Myself & Irene was technically not a horror film.

Three Faces of Eve is a pretty good non-horror example.

swo17 wrote:The world hasn't quite ended yet so people will presumably keep making movies. See here if you don't believe me. Some highlights:

- M. Night Shyamalan makes a thematic sequel to Unbreakable
- Lasse Hallström remembers how much people liked his last movie about dogs
- You're going to have to hear about 50 Shades of Grey again
- Zhang Yimou makes his obligatory Matt Damon-starring vehicle
- A Power Rangers movie not directed by Joseph Kahn

Man, is this year off to a ****ty start or what?

I think the consensus was pretty darn strong for Split

Maybe those stars were hiding the word "mighty" (or, for Shyamalan, "twisty")

It's not the worst of those films, but I side with those who were less-impressed, and there were more than a few who were.

The people I know who had anything positive to say about Split just seemed more relieved that he made something watchable.

Shyamalan's next film will be Glass, a sequel to this

Spoiler

and Unbreakable

The only thing I didn't understand (or like - thought this was a pretty great modern De Palma riff) about Split was him making that linkage, so I can't say I'm very optimistic. It's amazing how quickly filmmakers can go from revitalizing their careers to climbing right back up the well-worn path inside their own ass.

Well I've always though he was extremely overrated. I think Sixth Sense and Unbreakable are solid thrillers, but everything else he made has been utterly ridiculous and not in a good way. Haven't seen Split yet, but I disliked the Visit as well, so I don't have my hopes up

The Narrator Returns wrote:Shyamalan's next film will be Glass, a sequel to this

Spoiler

and Unbreakable

Now I'm interested.

I'm tentatively interested. Extended universes are for some reason the go-to for nearly every U.S.-made movie now so it just seems like Shyamalan playing into that trend in the only way he knows how: by revealing it at the end of one of his films. What a twist.

Reviews for Glass are out, and oh boy, it looks like Shyamalan has gone and made a bad movie (again) at the very moment he needed to make a good movie to get everyone back on board with his career (again) - 41 on Metacritic and not a single positive review

A colleague of mine just posted his review, and the main takes on the movie are that it's well done but dumb and way too predictable to be anything to remember, though he's slightly positive about it.
Looks like the kind of movies I could try out at home "just in case" or at least because I'll be able to fast forward through it, only to end up remembering while I skipped it in theaters in the first place.

It's not like his latest two weren't completely stupid and ridiculous anyway. In fact I'm surprised people liked them as they feature everything that is bad with this guy.

I actually thought Split was the best film he's done. The opening scene was tense yet deceptively casual. I think it really showed that Shyamalan has the ability to be a very good filmmaker but his preoccupation with science fiction/horror focuses him on the least interesting aspects of his films.

He's probably a good filmmaker, but his movies just need better scripts.

And I kind of like The Happening, if just for the scene of Mark Whalberg nervously talking to a potted plant which turns out to be plastic!