For as long as I can remember, I have been a fan of M. Night's films. Like a loyal family member I felt like I was there for him when nobody else was, like going to see the mediocre big budget films that made him one of the jokes of Hollywood. It became so bad that I could hear people groan in the theater when they witnessed a trailer for a movie that is written/produced/directed by that man, and that happened with "The visit" as well... until the movie was released. Now it seems like my man M. Night has found his groove again with a solid horror/thriller that is even better than his comeback film from a couple years earlier.
Much like the lovechild between Psycho and Red Dragon, this movie is a psychological horror and sometimes body horror film that tells the story of a man with Disociative Identity Disorder (DID) who abducts three girls and holds them in his creepy cell as food until his new 24th personality emerges. This 24th alter known as the "beast" is brought up several times as the movie progresses as this personality that's going to eat the girls as soon as he arrives. With that in mind, the tension in the movie builds and builds for Anya and the other girls as they strive to find a way out by working with some of the abductor's personalities while avoiding the dangerous ones.
James McAvoy as the villain with DID and Anya as the final girl carry this movie and steal every scene they're in. I'm not going to give anything away, but lets just say that many of the other people are a means to an end, and are merely those characters in any horror film that make stupid decisions that people (like me) find joy in witnessing. Go see this movie, and beware the beast!
4/5 stars
