M. Night Shyamalan and Jason Blum work well together.
While last year’s The Visit was spotty at best, it was a considerable upgrade from his past few works, namely 2013’s After Earth, 2010’s The Last Airbender, and 2008’s greatest comedy, The Happening. Fortunately, his collaboration with Blumhouse has brought him back to his roots, a place he remains with his next feature, Split.
James McAvoy stars as Kevin, a deranged psychopath with multiple personalities, who’s kidnapped a group of kids, among them being The Witch star Anya Taylor Joy. As Betty Buckley’s psychiatrist observes in the trailer: “I’ve never seen a case like this before. Twenty-three people live in Kevin’s body.” Sounds like a party.
In a clever move, Shyamalan’s eschewed the found-footage medium of The Visit and has finally returned to his crisp portraits that made his first three films — 1999’s The Sixth Sense, 2000’s Unbreakable, and 2002’s Signs — so exhilarating. This looks like an even greater return to form, though much of the work will be on McAvoy’s shoulders.
Watch the trailer above and catch the film on January 20th, 2017.