Split and Glass Review

Yesterday I watched two movies from the same series, M. Night Shyamalan's Split and Glass (which are both part of the trilogy that began with Unbreakable).

Let's say right off the bat, I loved Unbreakable when it came out. Not a perfect movie by any means, but dark, atmospheric, and took comic narratives seriously. Quentin Tarantino describes the movie as: "What if Superman didn't know he was Superman?"

Split came out a few years ago, but no one knew it was a sequel to Unbreakable until the last scene. It is a decent thriller with a great twist at the end, though honestly the twist is handled ham-fistedly.

Still, this movie appeared to signify a return to form for Shyamalan, and features an amazing performance by James McAvoy, who is called upon to play 24 different characters all within the same body. There is genuine tension, it is very dark, and you feel like there are real stakes. 

Worryingly though, it is another example from this director of a troubling message. In both this movie and The Village, the "real monster" is the character who is mentally ill. I’m not sure how you entirely get around that in horror/thriller movies as every villain in cinema history could be described as criminally insane to some degree or other. But Shyamalan is pretty on the nose with this. It is kind of the point of the movie. 

To be fair, in Split the mental illness might be characterised as something different altogether – some new form of capacity that goes beyond a disorder and into superhuman categories. Interestingly, the psychological talking cure, while compassionate and helpful for a time, is portrayed as ultimately futile in the face of genuine darkness. M. Night might be trying to say something there. 

More controversial is what he seems to be saying about incestuous pedophilia and self-harm, the results of which actually "save" the protagonist at the end. There is strength that comes from brokenness, but that is very dangerous ground to tread in the way that this movie does. I'm not convinced M. Night has the requisite skill and depth to pull off that conversation.

And then, there is Glass (spoilers). Whoo boy. That is a garbage movie. Set 15 years after Unbreakable and only 3 weeks after Split, the three main characters get caught and spend almost the entire movie inside a hospital for the mentally disturbed. Which is just one of around a hundred huge mistakes made by this movie. There are no real stakes; the villain's plan is absurd; and the ending suggests that the real good guys include at least two genuinely homicidal maniacs. There is also an unbelievable irresponsible scene wherein an actual Beast/Man is "redeemed" through the loving touch of a sixteen year old girl. 

So yeah, not a good movie. Watch Unbreakable, and maybe watch Split, but stay away from Glass.