By Cara Anderson
IG: @carajojo
I was hype to see Split. I love psychological thrillers. The trailer showed three teenage girls being abducted by a man and realizing that he has multiple personalities. James McAvoy’s acting in the trailer was enough to convince me that this was worth the $10.
The movie is set in Philadelphia, which I enjoyed. I am from the suburbs of Philadelphia and lived in the city for five years. The director, M. Night Shyamalan, is likewise from the suburbs of Philadelphia so this was no surprise. For being set in such a diverse city, the cast was overwhelmingly lacking diversity. Again, no surprise there, if you consider the white-washed cast that Shyamalan chose in “The Last Airbender.” I digress…
Objectively, the plot was intricate. The story kept my mind turning. James McAvoy was brilliant. His character has DID, Dissociative Identity Disorder. We meet a handful of McAvoy’s character’s 23 personalities. McAvoy had me tense and gripping my sweater; he was convincing.
There were a lot of unexpected aspects in Split that ruined the movie for me. One instance is Anya Taylor-Joy’s character’s flashbacks of being sexually abused by her uncle. So, I would not suggest this movie to anyone that has experience with sexual abuse, pedophilia, mental disorders, rape, incest, domestic abuse, or self-harm.
This movie needs a trigger warning.
Watch the trailer or read the film synopsis and it’s clear that there is a depiction of a mental disorder. Viewers are then left with a choice: watch the movie or not. However, every other upsetting item listed above is not alluded to in any of the marketing materials for Split. Split is rated PG-13, and the trailers and synopsis give no clue to the multitude of sensitive content in the film. If I had known, I wouldn’t have watched the movie.
Sure, there’s already a rating system is in place to protect people, but it’s not enough. There should be trigger warnings for sensitive content.
