Split Twist Explained: What it is and How it Improves the Movie

I feel this is fairly obvious, but HUGE SPOILERS for the new M. Night Shyamalan movie Split! Do not continue to read unless you have seen the movie or accept the fact that you will spoil the only twist worth spoiling in Split.

Disclaimer

I am NOT an expert on Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), Multiple Personality Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, or any other mental disorder that Split references or alludes to. Therefore, my explanation of these disorders and the twist is solely based on the movie and the facts it presents. No matter how true or false they may be.

The Main Theme

Before I begin I feel it is important to quickly summarize the main theme of the movie since it plays a HUGE role in the effectiveness of the twist.

In Split Kevin’s psychologist talks about how people with multiple personalities sometimes have different characteristics. Those characteristics go beyond simply speaking and acting different. The change can be as small as changing dominate hands and have increased strength to affecting cholesterol levels and even giving a blind person the ability to see. These abilities are sometimes completely unique to the personality. As other personalities reveal and go away, the ability reveals and retracts with it.

This is something that on a smaller level has actually been experienced in patients with DID. Each personality can develop and perfect different skills since they have different likes and attributes.

Because of these varying abilities one could say that this gives someone with DID supernatural abilities or superpowers. These powers can be tapped into by allowing different personalities to take over at different times.

The Twist

At the very end of the movie we are in a diner watching a news report of the events of Split. Near the end of the report we see a lady say something to the effect of, “Oh my! This is just like the guy in the wheelchair they arrested. What’s his name…?” She then leans back and we see Bruce Willis as he says, “Mr. Glass.”

In my theater this is the moment where about a quarter of my theater cheered, another quarter were indifferent, and the last half were confused.

In Unbreakable, Shyamalan’s 2nd film that came out in 2000, Bruce Willis plays the main character David Dunn and Samuel L. Jackson plays Elijah Price.

David is in a fatal train crash and is remarkably the only one to survive without a scratch on him. Elijah reaches out to him saying that he’s been looking for someone like Willis for some time. Elijah is born with Type I osteogenesis imperfecta, a rare disease that renders sufferers’ bones extremely fragile and prone to fracture. As a comic reader Elijah theorized that if he has very brittle bones then there should be someone in the world with exactly the opposite and be unbreakable able to perform superhuman tasks. Through the course of the movie this person is revealed to be David.

The twist in Unbreakable is that Elijah wasn’t only searching for a superhero, but he caused multiple disasters, including the train crash, in order to find this person. Thus, David is revealed as the superhero with Elijah (code name Mr. Glass) being his evil genius supervillain.

The Connection

If Unbreakable revealed David as a superhero with superpowers then obviously there are others in the world that exist with other abilities. One of these powers could be brought on by someone with DID.

This now opens up a much larger world. A world where comic book superheros are based on actual people with actual abilities. Now David, as a superhero, has a purpose to protect society from those that use their powers for evil rather than good. We truly have a superhero universe that is grounded in reality.

And not only that, it means that there may be connections to the other Shyamalan movies. Cole Sears from The Sixth Sense could in fact a superhero and can use the ghosts he sees to continue to solve mysteries and crimes. Maybe after Lady in the Water, Paul Giamatti’s character, Cleveland Heep, travels the world healing others with his magic touch. And maybe Elliot Moore, Mark Wahlberg from The Happening, is still searching for why the plants tried to… kill them… or something.

Regardless of how stupid some of these are, the thought that they are part of the same universe is exciting to say the least.

My Future Hopes

Now, I would be lying if I say I don’t want to see more movies that connect to this universe. I would absolutely LOVE it.

I would love to see Bruce Willis return in a movie as David Dunn as he hunts down The Beast from Split. I would love to see other superheros and supervillains emerge as they slowly are revealed by news reports. And I would especially love to see David Dunn team up with Cole Sears and Cleveland Heep to tackle the return threat of the aliens from Signs.

However, I don’t think we should get that. The joy of may of Shymalan’s films are that they are such a small stories. Trying to recapture the magic and create a connecting universe may erode the stories rather than build upon them. I’m OK if we get the occasional connection, but building straight off Split into a bigger universe is something I feel may hurt rather than help. I mean, that’s what happened to Shyamalan in the first place. He tried to make bigger budget films that ended up being significantly worse than his small scope masterpieces.

Conclusion

The twist revealed in Split has much larger implications than simply connecting two of Shyamalan’s better movies. It means that we may be getting an SCU (Shyamalan Cinematic Universe) soon. Even though it could be cool and interesting, the question remains if it is something we should get.

Ian Hornbaker

UnpoppedReview

Sometimes a film, no matter how much love is involved, fails to meet expectations. That’s where I jump in and break down “The Good,” “The Ehh” and “The Ugh-ly.” My purpose is to try to determine how the film succeeded and how it could have been better. I believe that this process can elevate the film industry and make the film going experience better for all.