Dir - M. Night Shyamalan
Overall: MEH
Many times, (lets face it, almost every time), certain details in M. Night Shyamalan's films come off as silly and distracting, yet they usually succeed in a pure emotional context. This takes center stage with Split. The premise here challenges the movie-goer to once again give a shit about someone with multiple personality disorder, which so many authors take great delight with not only endlessly utilizing, but also making as unrealistic as possible, hence entertaining. Shyamalan actually does this rather well, considering how overdone the basis of the plot is. Always a good director if not a frustratingly uneven writer, Shyamalan is helped very much by James McAvoy's performance which rides a razor thin line of NOT becoming too ridiculous to lose investment in. The fault here does not fall on anything insulting to the viewers intelligence, (Signs, The Village), or pure idiocy, (The Happening), but rather stretching the story a bit too long. A half-hour give or take could have been shaved off to make it more effective and tight. The final act arrives and then writhes along to a point where other elements begin to seem too far fetched and messy. Yet as is the director's most genuine trait, it is moving and heartfelt enough to agree with.
Dir - Liam Gavin
Overall: GREAT
A Dark Song is the debut from Liam Gavin and it is arguably one of the most impressive horror films in recent memory. Way more serious detail is devoted to the sinister, occult arts than usual in this film, but better still is the straight-forward dread that Gavin manages to convey. Slowly and confidentiality, the movie becomes more and more terrifying by the frame, held together by the minimal setting and very grounded performances from its two leads in Catherine Walker and Steve Oram. The score is likewise foolproof; one that barely qualifies as "music" most of the time which is exactly what this movie needs. It is quite rare for a horror film to be so effectively creepy while utilizing the genre's would-be detriments wholly to its advantage. At the same time, the movie balances serious themes by shining a light on emotionally crippling, all-consuming grief in human beings that can both horrifyingly and in this case, even exquisitely manifest itself. Powerful and intensely spooky, this is a modern benchmark to be sure.
Dir - Nicolas Pesce
Overall: GOOD
The debut of Nicolas Pesce is a film whose premise and execution are both equally wonderful in their unease. Several things happen in The Eyes of My Mother that any non-psychotic viewer would have no interest whatsoever in seeing, but actually, most of these things remain literally unseen. A black and white, beautifully shot, and brisk seventy-seven minute long vehicle into insanity, the movie is captivatingly uncomfortable, playing most of its cards intelligently. If there are any lapses of logic to point out, they are minute, unimportant details which do not necessarily deserve a pass mind you since too many of such a thing can take one out of the experience. Yet the sorrowful mood is so fascinating and terrifying that it is highly impressive that Pesce can construct such a technically simple story around an equally pathetic and unsympathetic lunatic of a protagonist without any questions arising that make the movie appear inept. It certainly is not that, but certainly is something unique and challenging.
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