Los Angeles -- James McAvoy must have amateur massage sex videosjumped at the chance to star in Split.
His role, which involves playing a character with disassociate identity disorder (DID) and rapidly switching between different personalities, is surely a dream for any actor, and that's before you even come onto the fact it's a new M. Night Shyamalan movie he's starring in.
And McAvoy, at least, nails it. He breaks out his full actor's arsenal of ticks and affectations, playing some personalities with a twitchy humour and others with a blank creepiness that produces laughs and tension in equal measure. It works.
It's just a shame the film as a whole doesn't.
SEE ALSO: Critics love M. Night Shyamalan's split-personality movie, apparently?Splitrevolves around McAvoy's character Kevin kidnapping a trio of teenage girls and keeping them trapped in a gloomy underground room for ominous -- if initially unclear -- reasons.
The opening abduction sequence is Shyamalan at his creepy best. We watch as three girls -- Claire, Marcia and Casey -- leave the former's birthday party. Claire's dad is giving them a ride home. One of the girls, Casey -- played with an eerie blankness by Anya Taylor-Joy -- seems a bit odd, but we can't quite put our finger on why. The camera tracks Casey's haunted face as she climbs into the front seat of the car, while Claire's dad -- who lingers behind to shut the trunk -- is approached by an unseen stranger.
Everything about this scene works beautifully. The lingering shots, the unnerving atmosphere, the sudden explosion of violence -- all of these things blend together to create the kind of tension that made Shyamalan's earlier films so much fun to watch.
But sadly, it doesn't last. Although the film keeps up its suspense well into the third act, it's not long before the cracks start to show.
The film's female characters are a problem. They're well-acted, but they feel bland and underwritten. Casey's backstory unfolds in a series of grim flashbacks, but -- aside from offering an explanation as to why she's so withdrawn -- it doesn't really fit with the film's central plot.
Claire (Haley Lu Richardson) and Marcia (Jessica Sula), meanwhile, are entirely two-dimensional; they feel as though they've been written in purely to add some dialogue and a bit of suspense during their predictably unsuccessful escape attempts. Betty Buckley has a slightly meatier role as Kevin's therapist Dr. Fletcher, but again -- apart from a few entertainingly tense exchanges during their sessions together -- she doesn't have a great deal to do.
The other problem is Split's central concept. The idea that split personalities can develop their own unique physical characteristics that defy our knowledge of the human brain is an interesting one, but it really runs out of steam. The more we learn about Kevin's reasons for keeping the girls, and the more we find out about his ominous 24th personality, "The Beast," the less mysterious the film becomes. The tension leaks out.
And speaking of the film's final act, it's not giving too much away to say that there's an unexpected easter egg hiding towards the conclusion (this is an M. Night Shyamalan film, after all). As much as this semi-twist may appeal to many fans of Shyamalan's films, it also feels sort of cheap; it's like Shyamalan didn't quite know what to do with the ending, so he tried to crow-bar in something unexpected as a flimsy distraction.
Despite all of these issues, though, it's worth stressing that the film is still a lot of fun to watch. The tension might not be there for the full two-hour run-time, but it's there for most of it, and McAvoy really does shine; in fact the movie would almost be worth seeing for his energetic performance alone.
Shyamalan is ultimately a man of brilliant imagination and ideas, with a great talent for dialogue, atmosphere and suspense. We've seen what he can do when he's at his absolute best -- his name immediately conjures memories of Unbreakableand The Sixth Sense; it's a brand associated with some of the greatest supernatural thrillers of the last century.
But it's also a name that inspires a weight of expectations, and when the elements don't quite gel together -- as is the case with Split-- the result is all the more frustrating for it.
Topics Reviews
'Cops' films new episodes, but they won't air in the U.S.This 'Succession' line gave a sneaky clue as to who would end up as CEOOctober Surprise; or, How to Follow a Perfect Season by James SantelDead Authors at Fashion Week: Part 4 by Katherine BernardWill Oldham on Bonnie “Prince” Billy by Alan LichtKids Are All Right, Like EWordle today: Here's the answer and hints for May 31'Succession' finale: Kendall and Roman's weird hug, explainedOctober Surprise; or, How to Follow a Perfect Season by James SantelNever Fear! Your Mugs are Coming! by The Paris ReviewMo Yan Wins the Nobel Prize for Literature by Sadie SteinWordle today: Here's the answer and hints for May 30Nootropics can contain multiple foreign drugs unapproved in the U.S.'Quordle' today: See each 'Quordle' answer and hints for May 31An Object Lesson: Beware of Getting Out of Touch by The Paris Review'Quordle' today: See each 'Quordle' answer and hints for May 29The Strongman Con: How to stop worrying about Trump stealing the electionEmma Chamberlain talks coffee, YouTube drama, and quarantine loneliness'Quordle' today: See each 'Quordle' answer and hints for May 31Build the TOTK hoverbike using these easy steps India gives legal human status to two of its oldest rivers A Rose Diary by Walt John Pearce Earth just had its second Sleep Diary by Rosa Shipley Hannah Arendt, Poet by Srikanth Reddy On Nate Lippens by Eileen Myles Sixth and Seventh Sleepers: Graziella Rampacci and Françoise Jourdan Kevin Killian’s Amazon Reviews, Part 1 by Kevin Killian Apple Vision Pro Best smartwatch deal: Get the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro Bespoke Edition for just $299.99 Taylor Swift drops 'The Tortured Poets Department' tracklist and Swifties are theorizing Scorching heat from this 'artificial sun' could help fight climate change Le Bloc: An Account of a Squat in Paris by Jacqueline Feldman Fourth Sleeper: Rachel Sindler by Sophie Calle Siding with Joy: A Conversation with Anne Serre by Jacqueline Feldman Against Rereading by Oscar Schwartz On Augusto Monterroso’s The Gold Seekers by Matt Broaddus Multiple Worlds Vying to Exist: Philip K. Dick and Palestine by Jonathan Lethem Control Is Controlled by Its Need to Control: My Basic Electronics Course by J. D. Daniels Neil deGrasse Tyson unleashes hot fire on Trump in angry tweetstorm
1.3755s , 10522.625 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【amateur massage sex videos】,Unobstructed Information Network