SPLIT (2017)

Directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Written by M. Night Shyamalan

Starring: James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Haley Lu Richardson

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The Sixth Sense was no doubt a brilliant movie. Perhaps it is the quality of this older work, and the lack thereof within his recent work, that had folks praising his last creation, The Visit, as a ‘return to form’, despite the fact it, among its other glaring flaws, rather obviously used dementia as a stepping stone for scares. This smacks of lazy writing (from a self-proclaimed ‘writer/director’), and we see the same thing in Split, which centres around Kevin, a man suffering from with D.I.D. (more commonly known as multiple personality disorder) and again, this is the launch-pad for his story, which is simple: Kevin has a ton of different personalities, and one has decided to take over and kidnap some teenage girls. Well, perhaps it isn’t quite that simple…

There are many movies that explore this disorder and the cinematic possibilities it offers. The problem with Split is that it tries oh-so-hard to legitimise the disorder via a lot of time spent with Kevin’s doctor. Yet at the same time, supernatural elements are teased at. Trying to present the reality of D.I.D, a vastly misunderstood disorder, while simultaneously referring to supernatural elements, is idiotic, and just a tad insulting to the community of folk who already have to deal with the stigma that surrounds mental health. This film certainly won’t be helping in that regard.

A horror film about a person with mental illness is one thing, but when that film bastardises what that condition is, and further from that, actually uses it as the butt of most of the humour? Is this a new sub-genre of exploitation cinema?

This incredibly over the top presentation of D.I.D. is perfect for a film, for fiction, not to mention being the perfect vehicle for McAvoy to show off his chops. But as said, the film is trying to have his doctor explain the illness. To convince people it is real. Yet the different personalities we see aren’t just absurd, they are laughably unrealistic and literally caused many fellow audience members to laugh aloud at how silly the presentation was. Laughter kills tension and fear like nothing else, and it succeeds here, replacing many a suspenseful moment with a ‘hey, look how silly this man is dressed! And he has an English accent!’ type moment, killing any trace of atmosphere.

The third act is where supernatural elements come into play, and the less said about it, the better. If this was the direction M. Night wanted to go in, avoiding to try and explain to the audience in detail just what D.I.D. is seems like a no-brainer. But if he did want to do that, all supernatural elements should have been shelved entirely. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. As for this film’s final ‘twist’…. Again, the less said, the better. Not only is it underwhelming, it is infuriating and feels very much like M. Night didn’t know how to end his own movie.

Despite making a complete mockery of D.I.D. by trying to legitimise it while simultaneously presenting it in an absurd, exaggerated and almost insulting fashion, this film isn’t a complete loss. M. Night has obviously done his homework, as he has enlisted the talents of West Dylan Thordson, who has composed a brilliant horror score that doesn’t manipulate its viewers, rather inducing a sense of dread with its deep, stringed sounds, almost as if someone was torturing a double bass. Anna Taylor-Joy, fresh from a fantastic performance in The Witch, is on board as the only captive with a semblance of a personality. The film has also been shot by Mike Gioulakis, who previously worked on It Follows. Shayamalan has been doing his horror-homework, but without the writing talent he seemingly once possessed, this homework was a complete waste of time.

God knows what someone suffering from this awful affliction would think of this silliness. For example, one of his personalities is diabetic, requiring insulin shots! Never mind that shooting up insulin is a good way to kill yourself, one of the 23 personalities believes he has diabetes! Yes, it is only a movie, exaggeration is to be expected. But to suggest that a single personality can require insulin but the others cannot? Tying supernatural elements with commentary on a real, horrible mental disorder, and further from that, attempting to legitimise it?? It would seem then that M. Night has done as much as possible to sabotage his own film.

The structure was there for a claustrophobic thriller. M. Night unfortunately turns it into an awkward comedy that isn’t tense at all, and much like his last effort, a lot of the comedy is the audience laughing at how absurd the situations presented to us are. There are very few legitimately funny moments… but hold on a sec’, wasn’t this supposed to be a horror movie?

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Another one for the bargain bin. But hey, it was slightly better than the intolerable The Visit. And that brings us full circle. Would anyone be bothering with his last two movies if an unknown name had made them? Would the critical reception be different if he hadn’t failed so bad previously? A ‘return to form’ can be a very, very different thing from a decent, solid flick, which this certainly is not. McAvoy is essentially the only thing worth watching, though it is hard not to laugh at how absurd the personalities created are. It is also hard not to laugh at the entire last 20 minutes, as what was a solid but flawed film turns into an absolute mess of half-finished ideas.

Two beers out of a sixer

2/6

THE VISIT [2015]

Directed and Written by M. Night Shyamalan

Starring: Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie, Kathryn Hahn

Some folk are touting this new film as a return to form for director M. Night Shaymalan after his last few outings which were almost universally slammed. I can’t help but feel that this is most certainly not the case, as the director resorts to found-footage style camerawork for his latest movie. Its sad to look back at how much I enjoyed Signs, Unbreakable and The Sixth Sense.

Quick recap: As the title implies, two children visit their grandparents, who they have never seen. Their mother left home at 19 and hasn’t contacted them since. After a few days things begin to get weird as the kids try to figure out just what is going on. Simple enough, but things get predictable quickly.

Billed as a horror/comedy, I was expecting something along the lines of What We Do In The Shadows or The Voices, two movies that deliver constant laughs while maintaining the framework of a horror movie. Simple concept, and when done right it can be fantastic. This movie gets the formula a little muddled up – the parts that are supposed to be funny are cringe-inducing, whereas the allegedly scary parts aren’t scary at all; in fact, I found myself giggling myself stupid at events that I assume were supposed to inject some sort of foreboding atmosphere into the film. I’m sure I was irritating the hell out of my fellow patrons. Woops.

Not only does it bungle its attempt at a horror/comedy, it plays as a film that shows us exactly how not to make a film. Let me elaborate.

Firstly we have the found-footage style camerawork. Like we didn’t have enough entries into that particular genre, this film takes the concept a step further, which I supposed it should be commended for. Its about the only positive I can draw from this mess. Regardless of this though, we are treated to the standard shaky footage, and when the plot of the film starts going in the direction we all know it will, many opportunities to film the grandparents’ weirdness are missed by the same shaky footage as the character in question runs away. Lord, how much longer will we have to put up with found-footage films?

Secondly, we have the two kids, both of whom are Aussie. This usually gets brownie points from me but it doesn’t here. Why? Because these two kids must be the most irritating child characters I have ever seen. Each scene where the younger brother ‘raps’ (or talks about hip-hop to his ignorant Nanna) is truly cringe-inducing, and the sad thing is these scenes are intended to be funny. In addition to this annoying little git, we have his sister Becca, some sort of film student who is making a documentary of their trip to their grandparents. With the help of her brother, almost the entire film is shot as if it is a documentary. Not a new idea by any stretch of the imagination.

Becca talks about framing shots and how she wants the documentary to look. The problem with this is that she is far from successful, not to mention the fact that good cinematography or not, it hardly matters when almost every shot is shaking. Not to mention the fact that it is hardly immersing to view half decent cinematography via the found footage technique. Like I said, this is almost a lesson on how not to make a movie. Rather than using his knowledge to capture the film, he passes it on to his character, who annoyingly addresses the camera, talking about what she has learned about film. Personally, I’d have much preferred M. Night use this knowledge to film the movie in a more conventional way that doesn’t make me feel nauseous. At least that way it could have looked good. M. Night has tried to be innovative and his movies suffers because of it.

One and a half beers out of a six-pack. This gets half a point for being funny, albeit not in the way that was intended.

1.5/6