SPLIT (2016)

2/1/2017 - Split (2016) – 4+/10

A passable weekend zone-out pic, that was completely carried by the exaggerated but understandable smorgasbord performance of James McAvoy. That said, it so often didn’t make sense and tried too hard. I was trying to be onboard with the film’s plot, but as early as the opening scene, there are seemingly ridiculous character contrivances. There is a possibility of them being explained much later in the film, as part of the main character’s journey, but they aren’t touched upon, explained, or given relevance, which seems like a screenwriting blunder and a major suck on my enjoyment.

This film also felt like a DID apologist discourse, pushing hard for believability, social acceptance, and relevance, but it came off more as exploitative and unnecessarily supranormal. The need for tying DID into the paranormal is abundantly apparent, winding into the core conceit of the film’s narrative, but that didn’t make it and less goofy and eye-rolling. A means to an end, rather than an enlightening and enjoyable pilgrimage.

I also didn’t appreciate the heroine’s story and struggle. There was a good deal of plot extrapolation that was needed from the scenes we got and her endpoint seemed unsatisfactory. It did not seem sympathetic enough, needing to have some true emotion poured into the turning of the wheels of her mind & the strife she has endured. Her realization of power/self determination also would have been strengthened by an unambiguous stamp of fortitude, instead of what we are presented with.

For me, this was a miss. James McAvoy is dependable and quality, but the totality of the rest of the film lagged far behind. I did not hate it, I just didn’t feel a whole lot while watching or after, in the story, character, or technical realms.