Split · reception & legacy
2017 · M. Night Shyamalan
How Split has been received, argued over, and remembered.
The arc
A shock hit in 2017 — $278M on a $9M Blumhouse budget — it was hailed as the peak of the 'Shyamalaissance' comeback that The Visit started; the lukewarm reception of its follow-up Glass (2019) has since made Split look even more like the high-water mark of that run.
What's debated
Fans still argue whether James McAvoy's showcase performance transcends or is undermined by the film's much-criticized use of dissociative identity disorder as a horror device.
Its footprint
McAvoy's nine-year-old alter Hedwig — the lisp, the dancing, 'et cetera' — became instant meme material, and the film's last-minute reveal that it was a stealth sequel is now the go-to example whenever film Twitter discusses surprise shared-universe drops.
Where it stands
It sits in cinephile memory as the proof-of-life moment of Shyamalan's comeback and a modern Blumhouse touchstone, kept alive on Letterboxd largely by McAvoy-performance appreciation posts.