M. Night Shyamalan's Best Movie In The Past 20 Years Now Has A New Streaming Home

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M. Night Shyamalan's career has been up and down, but one of his best films in years has found a new streaming home nearly a decade after it premiered. The director became a household name with the release of 1999's The Sixth Sense, and he produced a string of films in the early 2000s that were massive hits with shocking plot twists. However, the bloom began to come off the rose with Shyamalan after a series of critical missteps, though he could be counted on to deliver a hit or two occasionally.

Though early films like The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable showed off the director's clear vision and unique eye for storytelling, others were notoriously poor. Critical bombs like The Happening showed that Shyamalan's blockbuster days were beginning to wane. After a few more huge projects fell through, Shyamalan's films took on a decidedly smaller scale and were improved. Since the middle of the 2010s, the Oscar nominee has made several critically acclaimed films, and his turn back toward conventional horror has produced something of a renaissance in his lengthy filmmaking career.

Split Is Now Streaming On Max

Shyamalan's Stealth Sequel Has Found A New Home

Nearly 10 years after the movie made its debut, M. Night Shyamalan's Split has landed at its new streaming home, Max. The psychological thriller began streaming on the platform on June 1, and has found success on other services in the past. The James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy vehicle was a box office sensation upon release, grossing nearly $300 million against a budget of only $9 million (via Box Office Mojo). It is a stealth sequel to Shyamalan's Unbreakable, and is part of a larger cinematic universe.

Though Split was critically and commercially successful upon release, it wasn't without its controversies. The movie drew the ire of mental health professionals and mental health advocates, who found that the film demonized those suffering from mental illness. Nevertheless, its success spurred a sequel, and the trilogy-capping film, Glass, was released in 2019.

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Why You Should Watch Split On Max

James McAvoy's Performance Is Worth The Price Of ission Alone

There's no denying that Split is a somewhat problematic movie, and its portrayal of mental illness is backwards even for a film from 2016. However, there are certainly excellent things to take away from the movie, especially James McAvoy's performance as Kevin and all of his various personas. Besides that, the movie is a tensely-plotted thriller that never lets off the gas. Young stars like Anya Taylor-Joy and Haley Lu Richardson also turn in strong performances, and it is undeniably one of M. Night Shyamalan's best films.