Split Review (PG-13)

When I was in 7th grade, I bought a ticket to see my first “scary movie” in theaters. It was called Prom Night and I left before it even started… I watched the movie a few years later and realized I was a complete wuss but to this day, scary movies are still not my thing.

However, when I saw the trailer for Split, I was kind of scared but instantly intrigued. A man has 23 personalities, ranging from a little boy to an old woman? What actor even has the range to play such different personalities all in the same film? The answer… James freakin’ McAvoy.

I watched several interviews with him, talking about the film and let me tell you how insanely talented this guy is:

Although his character has 23 personalities, we only get to see eight of them (which is still a LOT). These personalities range in all ages, genders, sexual orientations and appearances. McAvoy had to transform himself, not just one time for this film, but eight times. That’s just mental.
At one point in the film, McAvoy has to portray all eight personalities… in four minutes. Four minutes, people!!! To be able to physically and mentally go through that many characters in that period of time, deserves an Oscar nomination automatically.
McAvoy only had ONE MONTH to prepare for this film… All he had was that short period of time to develop these personalities and to do as much research as he could on DID, or Dissociative Identity Disorder, which is what his character, Kevin, suffers from.
Some of his characters personalities didn’t come as easy as others. He said certain ones didn’t even work out until he was in full costume on set. Could you imagine that type of pressure?!
The craziest thing of all? At one point, there is a scene where his character has a conversation with several of his personalities at once. McAvoy messed up a few takes and got so frustrated that he punched a wall and broke his hand. There was only two days left of shooting so he didn’t tell anyone and worked through the pain. It wasn’t until after filming wrapped that he went to the doctor and found out he had shattered his hand in several places. Fun Fact: Watch out for his swollen hand during the last 30 minutes of the film. It’s huge, you can’t really miss it.

Now, if those aren’t enough reasons to see this film, let me give you a few more. This movie is thrilling, intense and makes you think, which keeps you on your toes. You can’t predict what will happen next and at certain parts, you will feel your heart beating out of your chest. The ending is full of so many twists that you might have to Google it after, just to make sense of it all.

This film is a must-see for all thrill-seeking, psychological movie junkies and I hope this review will help you appreciate the acting of James McAvoy even more! If not, you can just marvel at how attractive he is in a weird, crazy-person type of way.

Split is now playing in theaters everywhere.