Split

Yes, Virginia, there is a Shyamalan. And he's capable of making a good movie, when all the different parts click together. This is a case in point, and perhaps a template for how the director can make more good movies: keep it relatively simple, don't try to do too much, have relatively few working parts, and keep the focus tight on those limited cogs in the machine. It helps, too, to have a real pro like McAvoy holding down the acting fort; he does the bulk of the work in creating a company of characters in one body, most of them successfully realized. Perhaps, if Night has more Philadelphia stories like this in him, the future may evaluate his oeuvre in a much different light than we've seen lately.