Recently I watched Split, the new Shyamalan’s movie and I would like to talk about it.

This movie is generally depicted as an « horror movie » but I don’t think it really fits to this category. Indeed I found it very interesting because of the reflexion it sparks.

Kevin is a young man who has developed a psychological illness, a trouble of the personality. Kevin has got 23 personalities who cohabit in his consciousness. All these personalities are different: Hedwig is a nine years old boy, Jade is a woman who has diabetes, Barry is an eccentric artist, Denis is fussy etc…

A 24th identity is emerging, she is very more powerful than the others and its « creation » or « apparition » makes Kevin kidnap three teenagers who will become the « sacred food ».

But except this plot, the very interesting part of this movie is all the reflexion about people who suffered from this pathology, how their consciousness can divide itself in all these identities. In that way, we can assist to several dialogues between Kevin and his psychiatrist the Doctor Fletcher. For her, her patients may be those who can explore all their brain’s capacities. She has to adapt her speech and her reaction according to the personality she has in front of her: it will not be the same if she is with Barry or Denis.

She also wants to know how it is possible for one person to have several personalities that are each different from the other, why Jade is the only one to suffer from diabetes, how one body can be modified according the personality that is « put in the light ».

During this movie we can assist to a real mental fight between all these identities to win the right to take the control of Kevin’s body. Also, we understand that each personality was born because of a traumatic event and that each personality was created by Kevin to protect himself.

This movie is inspired from a true story, the one of Billy Milligan, an American man arrested for the kidnapping and the rape of three students. Milligan is the first who claimed his innocence because of troubles of personality. Indeed it was not really him who kidnaped and raped these girls but Ragen and Adalana, two of his twenty-four personalities. It is also with his case that schizophrenia and trouble of personality are distinguished.

So I liked this film  because of all the questions it raises and also because I have always been interested for the stories that treats of the consciousness, the brain and its capacities. Even if it can be a little « scary » I am like « fascinated » by the fact that a human can divide itself in different personalities who can have a different age, sex, language, habits etc… There was also suspense and tenseness in this film with a end that makes me think there will be a Split 2!