MAJOR SPOILERS for Split and Glass ahead.

The Split ending explained that M. Night Shyamalan was back. The director famously entered a massive slump in the '00s, following up his success on films like The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable with a series of critical duds. After the outright failure of After Earth, however, Shyamalan made some course corrections. The director's 2015 film The Visit saw him take a step back, making a low-budget movie high on ideas. Shyamalan followed that project up with the well-reviewed Split, his most layered story in well over a decade.

Split is loosely inspired by a true story, and it follows three kidnapped girls locked up by Kevin (James McAvoy), a man with 23 distinct personalities hidden within him. Two of the darker personalities have taken over and hope to use the girls as part of a dark evolutionary plan. Shyamalan’s movies always have twist endings that leave viewers with questions, and Split is complex. There’s a drip-feed of information about the main plot, a frankly haunting background to one of the main characters, and arguably the best M. Night Shyamalan plot twist since The Sixth Sense.

What Was Up With Kevin's Personalities In Split?

Kevin Suffers From A Fantastical Form Of Dissociative Identity Disorder

McAvoy’s "main" character in Split is Kevin, a regular guy who, due to a series of traumatic childhood events, has created a string of alternative personalities, or alters, most of whom are mentally stronger than he was initially. In this world, dissociative identity disorder doesn't just lead to a psychological change, but also a physical one; Kevin can actually alter his body with each personality switch, meaning some personalities can have OCD and need glasses, while others need insulin shots.

Who Kevin is at any given moment depends on who stepped into "the light" in his mind, something typically controlled by the personality known as Barry. The core personalities shown are Dennis, Patricia, Hedwig, and Barry. The former two — who call themselves the Horde — are the darker sides of Kevin, who have previously been pushed down by Barry and the rest but break out by manipulating the childlike Hedwig, who can take control of the light at will. Others try and break through to make a cry for help, but the Horde repeatedly pushes them back.

The Horde’s plan is to unleash the Beast, a mythical (at least in Kevin’s psyche) 24th personality.

It’s important to note that while this is Kevin’s body, his personality doesn’t seem complicit in either side of what's going on inside him — when he finally does emerge, he begs to be killed, revealing that even though Barry and co. are the good guys, they’re still going against the original alter’s will. The Horde’s plan is to unleash the Beast, a mythical (at least in Kevin’s psyche) 24th personality. It’s only alluded to in the film, but the Beast appears to be based on the animals in the zoo above where Kevin lives.

In the third act, the Beast breaks out thanks to Dennis and kills two of the kidnapped girls, but allows protagonist Casey to live due to her own troubled past, recognizing a bond between them. After this murder spree, Kevin appears to have reached a point where the Horde is in full control and can bring the indestructible Beast out at will, making him an almost Jekyll and Hyde superhero. And, yes, superhero really is the word, as shown in the sequel, Glass.

How Casey's Past Protected Her From The Beast In Split

Her Trauma Echoed In The Beast's Shared Memories

While the film is ostensibly concerned with Kevin’s past, the person whose backstory is elaborated on most explicitly is Casey's. She’s introduced as the weird kid who's always on her own and constantly getting into trouble, only invited to the birthday party from which the girls were kidnapped out of pity. Despite these social defects, she shows a proactiveness and understanding of the dire situation that allows her to succeed where the others fail.

The truth behind this, however, is rather haunting. In a series of flashbacks, audiences see her being taught to hunt by her father, at first assumed to be the cause of her skewed view of the world, but later revealed as context for the horrific abuse at the hands of her uncle. The film provides a chilling representation of pedophilia — the grooming scene, with the adult wanting to “play animals” is terrifying, as is the power the uncle wields even when held at gunpoint — and goes to great efforts to show how it affected Casey's life growing up.

The story resolves itself with Casey finally finding the power to talk about her experiences, a decision in stark contrast to Kevin. Rather than letting a troubled past manifest, she chooses to deal with the problem, which ties directly into the film’s core theme. It's a theme that continues in Glass, the final movie of the trilogy.

Split's Themes Of Generational Abuse & Trauma Explained

How Casey And Kevin Deal With Their Pasts Affects Their Futures

On a thematic level, Split is predominantly about how people deal with abuse. Both the protagonist and antagonist are the product of turbulent childhoods that have led to them becoming outsiders. For Casey, this manifests in her desire to be alone, with silence essentially her coping mechanism — she causes trouble so she can be sent to detention and get away from everyone. Kevin's is a more extreme case, hinted to come from a darker past, where he's completely repressed the pain and birthed new personalities to cope with his trauma.

There's an interesting connection between those "damaged" people. Casey uses her vague grasp of Kevin's mental fracturing to try and help herself escape while the other hostages can't concentrate. Later, the Beast doesn't kill Casey because he sees her self-harm scars that show him she's similar to him. It's a brutal but strangely poignant reflection on how people suffering from mental health issues can view themselves as alone, not seeing their connection to the wider world. This ties into the bigger solution to this insular thinking that the director presents; finding and accepting the comion and understanding of others.

It's a brutal but strangely poignant reflection on how people suffering from mental health issues can view themselves as alone, not seeing their connection to the wider world.

Throughout the movie, Kevin is offered empathy from Dr. Fletcher despite the mocking from her neighbors and peers, but the Dennis personality keeps ignoring it, willingly leading him down the dark Beast path - literally finding comfort in only himself. In contrast, Casey learns to address her past, making an active move against it and starting herself on a better trajectory. It's a rather simple notion, but a well-meaning one. The film preaches acceptance and openness, both to oneself and to others.

Split Is Actually Unbreakable 2

The Movie Sets Up A Third Film In Glass

For years, Shyamalan had teased a sequel to 2000’s Unbreakable, his dark superhero drama. It turned out he wasn’t lying — in a jaw-dropping rug pull, it’s revealed in Split's final scene the film is actually Unbreakable 2. The coda plays immediately after the end credits title card, showing a diner where a TV report about Kevin is playing and customers comment on its similarity to an event from 15 years ago involving a guy in a wheelchair.

The camera then tracks over to reveal Bruce Willis, reprising his role of David Dunn (evidenced by his nametag), who dryly confirms the old villain’s identity as Mr. Glass and walks out. It's a plot twist that reveals the characters of Split and Unbreakable have been in the same world all along.

No matter Split's effectiveness as a thriller, it is an astounding twist. It’s completely unexpected and more audacious than any other movie before; Split is a surprise sequel and nobody had a clue until its release. Building to this shocker is likely why some parts of the film feel a bit scattered or off-base, but it does retroactively make the whole thing a lot more intriguing.

As with Unbreakable, which revealed the twist that Samuel L. Jackson was the bad guy, Split explores the psychology of what would make someone become a maniacal villain.

In fact, it pretty much reshapes the movie's entire purpose; Split isn't a hostage thriller, but a supervillain origin story. By the time he's able to control the Beast, Kevin has essentially become the sort of monster that a traditional comic book hero would take on, and, as Glass later proved, that was Shyamalan's real goal. As with Unbreakable, which revealed the twist that Samuel L. Jackson was the bad guy, Split explores the psychology of what would make someone become a maniacal villain.

What Happened After The Events Of Split

It All Finally Built To Shyamalan's Dark Superhero Trilogy

The third movie brings them all together in a knock-down, drag-out fight between a noble hero, the beast he pursues, and the manipulative supervillain pulling the strings from the shadows.

The ending of Split set up a broad scope for the threequel ending to Shyamalan's intense, low-budget superhero riff. Unbreakable told the origin story of Bruce Willis' David Dunn, aka The Overseer; Split told the origin story of James McAvoy's Kevin Wendell Crumb, aka The Beast; while Glass wrapped up the trilogy with the origin story of Samuel L. Jackson's diabolical villain Elijah Price, aka Mr. Glass. The third movie brings them all together in a knock-down, drag-out fight between a noble hero, the beast he pursues, and the manipulative supervillain pulling the strings from the shadows.

After the events of Split, which occur three weeks before those of Glass, it's revealed that David has been hunting Kevin since the news of his kidnapping and killing the girls got out. When the police arrive, Dunn agrees to turn himself in quietly and soon finds himself locked up in a psychiatric ward with Kevin and Elijah. The three break out and clash again after Price convinces Kevin to help him, and another returning Split character is revealed: during their fight, Split's Casey also shows up, seemingly no worse for wear, and tries to get through to Kevin.

Though he's in Beast mode, Casey is hoping that the brief connection she shared with Kevin will be enough to once again tame the Beast. Of course, it's an M. Night Shyamalan movie, so there isn't just one twist in the third act, but two. It's revealed Mr. Glass created both the superhero The Overseer and the supervillain The Beast with the Eastrail 177 train crash. Not only did David Dunn survive the crash, but Kevin's father was killed in it, leaving Kevin to grow up with an abusive mother.

Then it's revealed that the psych ward psychiatrist, Dr. Staple, is actually an agent of a secret society that monitors and eliminates threats from superpowered people. By the ending of Glass, all three — David, Kevin, and Elijah — are dead. Considering the terror of The Beast unleashed in the climax of Split, however, that may have been the most merciful ending for both Kevin and the world.

The Real Meaning Of The Split Ending

Casey & The Beast Share A Common Connection

The Split ending was a fascinating twist long before David Dunn appeared in the actual final twist of the movie. The David scene connecting Unbreakable to Split was fun for fans, but it had little to nothing to do with the actual story M. Night Shyamalan was telling in this film. The Beast is a monster who kills and has almost no empathy for anyone. However, the ending of the film shows this is not entirely true. There is one person that Kevin Wendell Crumb has empathy for — Casey Cooke.

It shows The Beast sees a kindred spirit in Casey.

This is important because it shows The Beast sees a kindred spirit in Casey. He sees that she has lived through years of abuse and has the scars to show for it. He recognizes something in her that he has in himself. Kevin built these personalities to protect him from the pain of his life, and he sees that Casey might not have that same protection, but she is as broken as he is. He chooses to let her live because she is someone who has suffered, and he won't make her hurt anymore.

This ending plays out in Glass on the other side of things. Casey lived through a horrendous experience and is lucky she got out alive. However, instead of hating the monster who tortured her and almost killed her, she sees the monster as he saw her — a tortured soul who is fighting back and lashing out at an unfair world. Split ended with The Beast letting Casey live, and while she failed in trying to help save him in Glass, she allowed him to find a way to at least see acceptance before he died.

How The Split Ending Was Received

A Turning Point For M. Night Shyamalan

Given that Split came from the mind of M. Night Shyamalan - the king of twist endings himself - audiences naturally walked in expecting some mind-bending final reveal in the spirit of The Sixth Sense or The Village. However, the ending of Split did something far more unexpected: it played things straight (being a secret sequel to Unbreakable aside). That final twist, that the film secretly took place in the same universe as M. Knight Shyamalan’s cult superhero movie, was subtle yet seismic, and critics largely praised how the director handled it and the ending of Split in general.

Rather than hinge the entire movie on a last-minute gotcha moment, Split focused on character, suspense, and psychological horror, and many critics found this incredibly refreshing from Shyamalan. Christy Lemire of Roger Ebert called it “an exciting return to form,” going on to say:

“A rare, straight-up horror film from Shyamalan, Split is a thrilling reminder of what a technical master he can be. All his virtuoso camerawork is on display: his lifelong, loving homage to Alfred Hitchcock, which includes, as always, inserting himself in a cameo. And the twist - that there is no Big Twist - is one of the most refreshing parts of all.”

This approach proved to be a turning point for M. Night Shyamalan, who at the time was trying to recover from a string of misfires like The Happening and The Last Airbender. By shifting the focus away from trickery and back to tension and craftsmanship, Split marked a successful comeback. Jordan Hoffman of The Guardian echoed this sentiment, praising the film’s ability to stand on its own merits:

“It’s important to say that Split doesn’t hinge on a twist ending. It is a full and satisfying film that, if you stopped watching 18 seconds before the conclusion, would still suit as a juicy bit of smart horror. It nicely rides the line between exploitation and serious commentary about the strength gained from overcoming adversity.”

Critics appreciated that Split wasn’t just clever for clever’s sake. Instead, it offered a psychological thrill ride grounded in suspense and character work, with James McAvoy’s chameleonic performance at the center. That said, the ending of Split didn’t land perfectly for everyone. While many ired the movie’s restraint and world-building surprise, there were gripes about the pacing and ethical implications of the story’s darker elements. As Lemire also pointed out:

“[Split] staggers a bit toward the end with some contrivances and coincidences, and it goes in directions that feel a bit exploitative - as if it’s wringing childhood abuse for cheap thrills. I’m still wrestling with how I feel about it, but I know I walked out with a slightly icky sense, even as I found the film engrossing both technically and dramatically.”

This tension between style and substance was noted by other critics as well. Kim Newman of Empire observed that Shyamalan may have deliberately veered away from the twist trope, stating:

“This time, perhaps frustrated by the attention paid to his most easily parodied habit, Shyamalan holds off on a twist in favor of a measured development of a far-out premise, though an intensely fan-satisfying development pops up near the end.”

That “fan-satisfying” moment was, of course, the surprise cameo by Bruce Willis as David Dunn. It connected Split to the Unbreakable universe and teased the crossover film Glass. For some viewers, it was a jaw-dropper. For others unfamiliar with Unbreakable, the twist didn’t resonate. As Hoffman noted:

“There is a neutron bomb dropped in the final scene that essentially reframes everything you just saw. It isn’t a whopping reveal like the one in The Sixth Sense; it’s more like the snap of a puzzle piece on a wider game board you didn’t know you were playing. For many film fans, it will be extremely gratifying. For others, it’ll fly right over their heads, and they’ll wonder why others in the audience are shouting, ‘Oh my God!’ Split really is a movie for all sorts of personalities.”

In the end, Split’s conclusion stood out not for what it did, but for what it didn’t do. It didn’t chase shock value. Instead, it laid the groundwork for something bigger while still delivering a satisfying story on its own. The result? A reinvigorated Shyamalan, a thrilled fanbase, and a finale that sparked more excitement than controversy.