Split Ending Explained

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 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.

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.