12 Best Performances In 2017 Films (So Far)

Critics have hailed M. Night Shyamalan’s latest film Split as a return to form for the notoriously twisty director. It’s definitely closer in line with the brilliance of early Shyamalan films like The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable (nudge nudge, wink wink), but it wouldn’t have been possible without the performance of the talented James McAvoy at its core.

Playing a man suffering from dissociative identity disorder, McAvoy takes on a multitude of roles in Split switching between obsessive-compulsive control freak Dennis, lisping nine-year-old boy Hedwig and the erudite but chilling Patricia seamlessly.

Taking on such an array of roles, especially within the same movie, could be an actor’s dream or their downfall but McAvoy manages to convince in every part he plays often with only a slightly nuanced change in body language or accent. Not bad considering that physically and visually he’s a shaven-headed thirty-something throughout.