While attending the cinema today, I, along with a smattering of people, were treated to the following trailer for M. Night Shyamalan’s latest rebound attempt: Split.
Unlike past run-ins with M. Night trailers, this one felt different. For starters, this marked the first time since The Village where I can recall an audience not outright snickering at the sight of M.Night’s name in a trailer. That is an achievement all its own. Second, this trailer didn’t trigger my twist senses. Perhaps that is because we never get the implication of an underlying mystery for the third act reveal. Finally, there’s the McAvoy factor. I don’t know about you, but I find McAvoy to be one of the most watchable actors working today. He’s not the type to phone in a performance, and just knowing that he’s going to be chewing scenery as a character with 23 different personalities has me very intrigued. The only potential red flag I see is his Hedwig personality. As long as it doesn’t fall into Simple Jack territory, we’ll be good.
You’ve peaked my interest M. Night. Please don’t muck this up.