James McAvoy is a troubled man in the first trailer for Split

James McAvoy in Split

by James White |
Published on

M. Night Shyamalan scored a much-needed return to the "kudos" side of critical and even audience reactions to his film with The Visit. He's back in low-budget Blumhouse thriller territory with James McAvoy in Split. Check out the first trailer below.

Split sees McAvoy (taking over a role that Joaquin Phoenix originally circled) playing Kevin, a man whose psychologist (Betty Buckley) has identified 23 individual personalities occupying his brain. But Kevin's issue is no mere psychological condition: his body chemistry actually changes with each identity. Most of them appear to be harmless, there is one that has recently started to emerge and which dominates the others. This one has malicious, mysterious intent pulsing through him, and Kevin abducts three teenage girls (including The Witch's Anya Taylor-Joy) for reasons that he won't immediately reveal. But several of Kevin's personalities reference "The Beast", so perhaps he's met Black Phillip?

However it shakes out, Split will be on our screens next January.

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