A couple years ago, I watched Split. It was a very engaging movie. I walked away quite thrilled by the psychology of the entire situation. One of the people I saw the movie with mentioned it was a spiritual successor to a movie made about fifteen years prior, Unbreakable. It wasn’t clear there was any connection, other than the main character of Unbreakable having a short cameo at the very end of Split. Beyond this brief mention, the movies largely left my mind and I don’t recall talking with anyone else who saw Split.
Over the past few months, I’ve been frequenting the movie theater. During the twenty minutes of previews, Glass kept coming up. I immediately recognized James McAvoy’s cast of characters in the preview, and really wanted to see it. However, I wanted to perform my due diligence of preparation, so last night I watched Unbreakable. That is another excellent movie, but obviously not the point of this review. Feeling caught up with the story as it stood–Elijah Price in a mental institution, David Dunn moonlighting in the security business with his adult son (played by the same guy who played the kid in Unbreakable), and Kevin’s body inhabited by a split personality still abducting young girls to satiate the Beast–I proceeded to the theater to watch Glass.
To make things clear, I am far from a movie aficionado. In particular, I hold no feelings either way toward M. Night Shyamalan. I believe he’s made some great movies, and some not great movies. The idea of a Shyamalan Twist was not on my mind, and I just wanted to enjoy a movie featuring a cast of three characters I found very intriguing. My goal is not to spoil the movie in any major way.
I would say the characters were as expected. Elijah Price continued to be devilishly witty, David was the “reluctant hero”, and Kevin & co. had severe issues, and everyone was treated to another superb display of character acting by James McAvoy. I find no fault in their performances, nor their character’s motivations. Of course, one gets a free pass on motivation when the characters are institutionalized.
The character that bothered me the most was Dr. Staple, the psychologist who took over the treatment of the three main characters. If anything, it was a roller coaster; she started out just bothering me. The actress herself just wasn’t my cup of tea. Then, I started to notice a manic look in her that played well throughout the rest of the movie.
There was little payoff at the very end. It left things open for another movie, but I’m not sure I want it. However, I do value that Shyamalan had the courage of his conviction to finish the movie in a way super hero movies refuse to in most cases.
I think the most praise I can give this movie is that it had me invested in the characters, and believing the unreliable witnesses we had available to us. The movie was set distinctly in our world, and the ambiguous state throughout kept me engaged. I say see the movie, but only if you can be bothered to watch both Unbreakable and Split, and like them both, and want to see an interaction between those two movies. However, I believe they may be better on their own, as spiritual cousins with shared inspirations.