Split

M. Night Shyamalan’s Split came as a welcome surprise when it debuted unannounced as the secret screening at last month’s Fantastic Fest, delighting audiences with a daring turn from James McAvoy (and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy and James McAvoy) as a mental patient harboring 23 distinct personalities in his head. Our own Britt Hayes was on the scene and reported back with a resoundingly positive review naming the new film as Shyamalan’s best in years. (Not an especially high bar, admittedly, but praise is praise.)

Between The Visit and the first season of Wayward Pines, 2015 restored our faith in M. Night Shyamalan as a filmmaker capable of delivering clever, surprising thrillers, which makes us all the more optimistic for Split. The director’s latest project stars James McAvoy as a man with many personalities (one of which is quite deadly), and although the first trailer suggests that Split borrows familiar elements from other notable films, we have to believe that Shyamalan still has a few tricks up his sleeve.

In what proved to be one of the neatest twists of 2015, M. Night Shyamalan restored our faith by returning with the pretty solid horror flick The Visit. And the master of twists is already heading into production on his next thriller, re-teaming with Blumhouse Productions for the newly-titled Split, starring James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy, the breakout star of The Witch.