8 Horror Movie Villains You Can’t Help But Sympathise With
2. Hedwig, Dennis, and The Beast – Split
A performance that will never be forgotten by film critics and casual cinema goers alike, is James McAvoy’s stellar performance as Kevin Wendell Crumb and his 23-going-on-24 different personalities in the 2016 horror/thriller “Split”.
M. Night Shyamalan came under significant scrutiny from many mental health organisations when this movie originally hit cinemas, as its depiction of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is very overtly negative. So before I say any more about McAvoy’s fantastic performance, it’s worth noting that, as amazing as it is, the disorder is still widely misunderstood and unfortunately this film did add fuel to that fire.
However, McAvoy essentially playing 4 or 5 different characters that we see on screen for most of the movie (and then overall the remaining 18 that we very briefly meet) is no mean feat and should not be forgotten because of the film’s portrayal of DID.
The character with the most sympathetic edge to them is undoubtedly Hedwig. The audience meets Hedwig relatively early on in the film, shortly after the three girls have been kidnapped by Dennis, one of the alter personalities. Hedwig is 9 years old, so still very much infantile and childish. You can see his own internal struggle with what the main alters Dennis and Patricia are doing to the young girls and what they are preparing, which makes him the most sympathetic out of all of the alters that we meet.
His own true perception of right and wrong is skewed beyond belief, and due to his age most likely does not understand the severity of the situation which he is enabling. Above all else though, the trust in which he puts in Casey (one of the three girls being held captive), and the ensuing destruction of that trust, is what is the most upsetting to witness Hedwig endure.
At the end of the day, he is still a child or has the mentality of such, and because of this, paired with McAvoy’s ridiculously admirable acting, you want him to not get hurt.