M. Night Shyamalan’s Most Mind-Blowing Horror Movie Just Climbed to Top 2 on Netflix

In 1997, the 27-year-old M. Night Shyamalan committed an act of incredible extravagance: at the risk of the family budget, he bought new shoes and a ticket to Los Angeles, and also booked a room at the expensive Four Seasons.

Shyamalan bluffed, presenting himself to studio agents as a successful screenwriter, although his portfolio included only a script sold to Fox about a widower (Labor of Love, never made) and the story of a talking mouse that Columbia bought (Stuart Little, which wouldn't become a hit until 1999). Shyamalan's other two projects he directed, Praying with Anger and Wide Awake, weren't particularly great movies.

And then, in 1999, The Sixth Sense came out, and Shyamalan became famous around the world. However, the director's future creative path would not be smooth – The Sixth Sense was not surpassed by any of his films, and a number of subsequent projects were even nominated for Golden Razzies.

Split Reached Top 2 on Netflix

But among the director's relatively recent movies there is one hit that stands out among a series of failures, and recently the horror thriller Split has found a second life, reaching the Top 2 on Netflix.

In 2017, the legendary French magazine Cahiers du Cinéma placed M. Night Shyamalan's Split in the top ten best films of the year; previously, The Village and Lady in the Water received a similar honor.

According to Cahiers du Cinéma, this makes Shyamalan the most successful suspense director since Alfred Hitchcock. One can argue with such an assessment, but one thing is beyond doubt: Shyamalan does make thrillers as a unique but direct heir to Hitchcock's style.

What is Split About?

Three teenage girls, Casey, Claire and Marcia, are kidnapped in broad daylight by an unknown criminal. Very soon the girls realize that their kidnapper Kevin suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder: his consciousness is split and consists of twenty-three different personalities of different ages and genders.

The main problem, however, is not even this, but the fact that soon another one will awaken in Kevin – an exceptionally cruel and insane one. And this person will demand sacrifices.

Split Is a Masterfully Delivered Psychological Thriller

Starting out as a crime story about a kidnapping, Split gradually turns into a psychological thriller, which allows Shyamalan to keep the tension thanks to the cleverly used trick of splitting the consciousness.

It works, of course, largely thanks to the performance of the incomparable James McAvoy. He successfully masters the role (or rather roles) of a psychopath who is able to evoke sympathy and disgust at the same time.

Watching Kevin's various incarnations flow from one to the next is downright mesmerizing. And despite the possible skepticism of some viewers, it is absolutely real – similar cases have been recorded in the history of medicine.

Split was a huge box office success, grossing $278 million and ranking among Shyamalan's best films. So if you haven't seen one of the director's most mind-bending projects, now is the time.