It’s been awhile since I watched a Shyamalan film. I kind of tuned out after awhile. I think Lady in the Water did it for me. But I did remember enjoying his earliest films, The Sixth Sense, The Village, Unbreakable. And it seemed like enough time had past that I could see if I could enjoy his work again.

So I figured why not check out Split. Almost a decade on it’s no longer really a spoiler to know that it fits into the Unbreakable universe. Especially since another film came on its heels, Glass, tying in all the characters.

Three young women, Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy), Claire (Haley Lu Richardson) and Marcia (Jessica Sula) are kidnapped by Dennis (James McAvoy). And that’s just the beginning of their problems. Dennis is only one of twenty-two personalities inhabiting one body, and they all warn of the arrival of a new personality, a twenty-fourth they call The Beast.

Some of the personalities reach out to their therapist, Dr. Fletcher (Betty Buckley) for help all while Casey and the others try to find a way to escape before it’s too late.

Interwoven through this are flashbacks to show us the broken life Casey has, something that may empower her to confront the rise of The Beast.

Knowing going in that Split tied in to Unbreakable I settled in for what I knew would be a bit of a thriller while also being a bit of a villain origin story. And of course, the appearance of David Dunn (Bruce Willis) right before the end credit roll was no longer a secret, so I could just enjoy the build-up of the story and the performances of Taylor-Joy and McAvoy.

McAvoy is on fire here. His physical form and mannerisms shifting with the personalities, and each of them can be differentiated simply from they way he movies and carries himself. It’s a fantastic turn.

There’s no surprise twist that affects the way the narrative is interpreted, it just ends up being a solid story, tensely crafted and nicely shot. And it reminded me of why I enjoyed Shyamalan’s early work.

Will I revisit all of his films? I can’t say I will, but I will round out the Unbreakable trilogy asap as I would like to see how it all wraps up. But this one, even if you aren’t a Shyamalan fan is worth seeing for McAvoy alone. It’s a masterclass and Taylor-Joy remains a fantastic actor and continues to be one to watch.

So, let’s see how David Dunn will deal with The Horde, as the character becomes known, and how Samuel L. Jackson’s character will tie into it when I watch Glass.