Split (2017)

M. Night Shyamalan crafts a psychological thriller that uses dissociative identity disorder as a vehicle to explore the nature of trauma and survival. The premise is unsettling: Kevin, inhabited by 23 personalities, kidnaps three teenagers while a monstrous personality —La Bestia— emerges from the darkest depths of his fractured psyche. The film is not suitable for minors. There is sustained physical and psychological violence: the kidnapping generates claustrophobic tension, and the denouement includes violent deaths, though without graphic sadism. More disquieting is the treatment of child sexual abuse: Casey, the protagonist, survives precisely because her own trauma prepared her to resist. Flashbacks of abuse by her uncle are shown implicitly but unequivocally. The film raises legitimate questions about determinism and free will —to what extent does trauma justify or explain monstrosity?— but offers no easy answers. Shyamalan embraces moral ambiguity in a genre that typically demands clarity. For parents: psychologically disturbing content that requires considerable maturity. Not recommended for adolescents under 16 years of age without accompaniment and subsequent discussion about the weight of suffering and personal responsibility.