10 Movies That Escaped The Dump Month Curse
5. Split
M. Night Shyamalan's fame rose with the release of The Sixth Sense in 1998 but fell from grace with terrible films like The Happening and The Last Airbender. By the 2010s, it seemed like the filmmaker's glory days were long behind him.
Thankfully, he started focusing on smaller works and would make a comeback with Split. Released on January 20, 2017, the film proved that while his past concepts can often be poorly executed, Shyamalan remains one of the most creative filmmakers out there.
On a $9 million budget, the film grossed an impressive $278 million worldwide with critics calling it a return to form.
One reason why it succeeded is that Shyamalan takes the split personality premise and ratchets it up to 11. This concept is then executed wonderfully by James McAvoy who carries the movie as he convincingly portrays multiple personalities on-screen. He can be endearing as the child Hedwig but can be terrifying as The Beast.
The movie would even win more fans over with one of the best Shyamalan twists where it is revealed that Split is connected with Unbreakable where both films would converge in 2019's Glass.