"Split" Movie Review

     I'm planning to do a big post with all the movies I've watched throughout the month of January at the end of the month, but I'd like to review Split right now because it's a bit more time sensitive since it just came out yesterday! 

     So last night at 6pm, the roomies and I and a few other friends went to go see the Lost film of the week, which was the movie Loving. I'd already seen it with AB and SE over Christmas break but it was pretty good so I didn't mind seeing it again. When it was over, it was only like 8pm. 

     "We're really sad guys. It's 8pm on a Friday night and we're already done with the one plan we had for the night." (That's Emily) We lamented for a little bit trying to think of things to do, and then it hit us. We'd all been talking about how we wanted to see this new movie Split which is about a man with Disassociated Identity Disorder who kidnaps three girls. What if we went to go see it? Like RIGHT THEN? We googled local theaters and showtimes and saw that it was playing at a theater just a few minutes down the road. Then, we ordered an Uber (my first Uber ever!) which Marina, big New Yorker that she is, helped us navigate splendidly. In the trailer for Split, the girls are kidnapped when they realize that the man getting in the car to drive them home isn't the dad but a psycho stranger. I pointed out the irony of this before we got into the Uber, and got some death glares. Thankfully, it was very safe and professional. 

     We got to the theater and had some time to kill before the movie started so we hung out in the arcade room until a bunch of tweens came in and started being really obnoxious. Thank goodness WE were never obnoxious tweens, am I right? Hehehe. 

     When we sat down in the theater itself (which was huge in comparison to good old Leitersburg Cinema, and had a really really sticky floor) we felt like we were so cool. There was nobody else there yet and it was our first outing together actually going off campus by ourselves. Kind of sad, really. Then as it got closer to the start of the show, people started filtering in and we realized that we weren't as original as we thought we were. Half the theater must have been from Messiah. I saw like five people from my Philosophy class. (Who are probably all going to use the movie as their essay topic, because it was the perfect film for a Philosophical discussion about psyche and identity). 

     Anyway, finally came the movie. 

     It was really really good. I would give it like an 8.5/10. The girls who acted in it, especially the girl who played Kacey (Or KC?) were incredible. Like this movie is going to be their gateway to all kinds of really important future roles, I'm telling you right now. And James McAvoy, who played the main character who has 23 different personalities was amazing. I mean I can't even imagine how difficult it must be to have to act out 23 different parts in one movie without getting them confused or making them all seem similar. But he did an awesome job. And they even all had distinct facial expressions and stuff so they all looked pretty different too, which is actually very realistic to the disorder he was portraying. 

(SPOILER AHEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!)

     The only big problem I have with this movie is that at the end, it alludes to the fact that the whole thing actually occurred in some kind of Comic book universe, and that Kevin (the main character) is actually a supervillain or something along those lines. Which felt pretty insensitive to me. It's a movie about the intense power of mental illness, and then suddenly, the movie seems to say that mental illness is just something out of a comic book that turns people into villains? Like what?? D.I.D. is a legitimate mental disorder, not some super power with evil capacities. Maybe I'm just interpreting it wrong or taking it too seriously or something but I really could have done without the last four or five minutes of the movie because they kind of overshadowed the impact of the movie as a whole. But other than that, I really liked it and would definitely recommend it. 

Everybody's favorite personality. 

     I would go into more specific detail about the part I liked the most about the connection between Kasey and Kevin (they even have the same initials gee wiz what a surprise: Kacey Cook and Kevin Crumb) but I don't want to give too much away. Let's just say it was really interesting and a little heartbreaking. 

     Oh, and if you're expecting a nice happy ending, haha, nope. 

     If we weren't wary about the first Uber ride, after watching the movie, we were a little jittery about the ride back. But as I was getting into the car, I saw a Bible on the back dash, and the driver was playing gospel music on the radio. So I felt very much at ease. 

     It was definitely one of the more fun and eventful evenings that I've had at college and I'm glad for it. Have a great Saturday! 

-VaughnDL