I would imagine that it can be quite difficult for someone to be able to pull of a convincing character with one personality. James McAvoy pulls off something like 10 in this one, complete with different accents - all of which are convincing.
I don't know exactly how I managed to miss this when it was released in 2016 but I suspect the fact that it had M. Night Shyamalan's name attached to it is part of the reason why I chose to give it a miss. I wasn't terribly impressed with many of his releases in years past. However, this one is pretty dern good.
James McAvoy plays Kevin (although he has many other names as the film goes by and even plays a woman for a bit) and he has 23 different personalities. He has a condition called DID (dissociative identity disorder) which means at certain times he is unaware of what his other personalities actually do and takes on different physical capabilities depending on which one he happens to "be" at the time.
One of his personalities, a more dominant one, kidnaps three teenage girls from a parking lot following a birthday party and then transports them to a facility that appears to have been designed for precisely what he is using it for now - holding prisoners. His intentions for them are unclear and to be honest I still can't really say for sure what they are after having watched the entire movie (even if i did know i wouldn't say.)
I don't want to reveal much of the film but I can assure you, it is worth seeing.
The intensity and precision in which McAvoy plays what is essentially at least half a dozen completely different characters, sometimes switching from one to another mid-scene, is truly something else. I didn't think much of the guy as an actor before now, but now I can see he is truly talented.
This movie made a 2000% return on investment of a mere $9 million and has received mostly positive feedback from critics. The only downside i would say is that despite McAvoy's stellar performance, there isn't much of a story here... or at least not one they reveal before the last 10 minutes of the film... but i suppose that is what M. Night Shyamalan is known for. It's a good film but aside from McAvoy's performance it isn't fantastic and at times is even a bit boring.
