Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), a mid 30’s worker at the Philadelphia zoo that just happens to have dissociative identity disorder, is otherwise a functional member of society. Kevin’s disability is not visible to those who interact with him on a daily basis, and up until now none of his personalities have surfaced in a way that was detrimental to himself and others.
This psychological thriller takes off when one of Kevin’s 23 personalities kidnaps three girls; Casey cooke (Anya Taylor Joy) Claire Benoit (Haley lu Richardson) and Marcia (Jessica sula). He proceeds to hold them captive in a cellar under the zoo, as his personalities take turns, emerging from a rather dark, abusive past of his. As the girls remain locked in a room, fearful, bewildered and haunting emotions run high. Claire and Marcia are driven by the need to stay alive and escape, but Casey has different plans. As a victim of abuse, Casey finds the personalities therapeutic, as she almost inadvertently encourages them. Casey whose mind is almost fully removed from the current situation, and immersed in visions from her past finds solace in the personalities. Whether she wants to leave at first is unclear to the viewers, but soon becomes known as her mind slowly slips back into the reality of the situation.
Things become grim when, a 24th personality named “The Beast”, one who aims to destroy the other personalities and impart his wisdom in a pure soul, threatens to take over. The beast indirectly plays on our emotions as he shows himself to be a facet of human life. The beast very animalistic in his approach is something similar to the animals that Kevin sees while working at the zoo. Although a fictitious character and a key proponent in Kevin’s alternate world, the beast represents the pursuit of one emotion to overpower the others. Jealousy, rage and the need for attention, the battle over what feelings will define us is what “The Beast” means in our modern world.
We as the viewers become sympathetic to the other key personalities; Denis, Patricia, Hedwig, Kevin, Barry, Orwell and Jade as they seem almost innocent and well intending alongside “The Beast.” As the girls continue to be held captive Kevin Wendell crumb goes to his weekly therapy sessions with Dr. Karen Fletcher (Betty Buckley), a strong believer that people, like Kevin, can overcome their disabilities by moving to different personalities. She becomes fascinated with Kevin’s mind, but because of this, things take a spin.
Dr. Fletcher’s character is representative of how our curiosity can be our worst enemy. We always want to know more and dig deeper but when we dig too deep we unleash things we may not be able to handle. The film carries on as more and more personalities continue to reveal pieces of Kevin’s childhood, we would have otherwise not known. The viewers are expected to pay close attention because if you miss the slightest second, a personality’s motivating agents will become lost to you. Not quite a horror movie. Split thrills its viewers with horror, psychology, and action as you yearn to enter Kevin’s world.
