Is the movie Split based on a true story? Ending Explained

People are wondering is the movie Split based on a true story or not, so here you can uncover everything about 2016 American film Split in this article, take a look.

by Tamilchandran

Updated Apr 18, 2023

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Is the movie Split based on a true story? Ending Explained
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Split Movie

The primary protagonists of M. Night Shyamalan's 2016 American psychological thriller Split, which he also wrote, produced, and directed, are James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Betty Buckley. The main character of the film is a person with dissociative identity disorder who kidnaps three young girls and imprisons them in a distant underground facility. The reviews were overwhelmingly positive, praising both Shyamalan's direction and McAvoy's performance.

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Numerous mental health advocates criticized the movie for stigmatizing mental illness. Split generated $278 million in sales globally on a $9 million budget. Bruce Willis reprises his Unbreakable character in a moment in Split, which reveals that the movie is a standalone sequel to Shyamalan's 2000 picture Unbreakable despite not being advertised as such. Split was dubbed the first solo supervillain origin movie and the first "stealth sequel" by commentators.

The Unbreakable trilogy by M. Night Shyamalan was completed with the 2019 movie Glass, which reunited the casts and characters from two earlier movies.

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Is the movie Split based on a true story?

Split is loosely based on the real life of a person Billy Milligan, who made headlines for being the first person to use his multiple personality disorder as a defense in court in the United States of America, served as inspiration for Kevin Crumb. According to the source, Billy was first detained in 1975 for an armed robbery and rape.

He was nonetheless released in 1977. Billy was arrested once more for abusing three women at Ohio State University not long after his parole. 

Due to the defense's use of multiple personality disorder after his arrest, his trial is said to have garnered a lot of media interest. He was reportedly taken to a state mental hospital after the court found him not guilty. Billy was initially diagnosed with having 10 distinct personalities, but it was later discovered that he actually had an additional 14 personalities. He was released in 1988 after serving his term at the hospital.

Split Movie Plot

Split, the middle chapter of M. Night Shyamalan's Eastrail 177 trilogy, which began with Unbreakable in 2000 and concluded with Glass in 2019, was inspired by a true story. James McAvoy's portrayal of Kevin Crumb, the film's central figure, allowed it to investigate the unusual and fascinating diagnosis of multiple personality disorder. In the opening scene of the movie, Kevin kidnaps three females and takes them captive for an unspecified period of time. 

They initially come into contact with Dennis, a somber, serious man who goes by Dennis and has a cleaning compulsion. Later, they encounter more characters with their own unique personalities and peculiarities, such as Patricia and Hedwig. Eventually, Kevin's 24th personality, The Beast, manifests and grants him additional, nearly supernatural strength, speed, and other powers that appear to be beyond human.

Split Ending Explained

Dennis, Patricia, and Hedwig talk about the capabilities of "The Beast" and their strategies for bringing about global change in another hideout. Several customers at the Silk City Diner are watching a TV program about "The Beast's" misdeeds when the reporter mentions that his various alter egos have given him the moniker "The Horde." A waitress observes the resemblance to a wheelchair-bound criminal who had received a nickname fifteen years previously.

The person sitting next to her responds that it was "Mr. Glass" as she struggles to recall. After the two girls have been killed by Kevin's other personalities, Casey is the only survivor and is eventually rescued by the police. The news is shown on television in the following frame, and the presenter refers to Kevin as The Horde. The story also covers the specifics of his murderous rampage.

The diner's waitress then reveals that a previous serial killer also had a moniker similar to this. But she can't recall what his name was. The name was Mr. Glass, as Mr. David Dunn, the man seated next to her, discloses. The audience is confused by the Split movie's emphasis on the 23 personalities of the main character. When he notices signs of sexual abuse on the third kidnapped girl's body, he spares her but kills the other two.

He can identify with her because he too had a difficult upbringing. One of the primary protagonists in M Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable trilogy is David Dunn.  He is a security officer who discovers he possesses superhuman abilities. The conclusion sets up the sequel Glass in the Unbreakable trilogy.

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Split Review

A suspenseful psychological thriller for imaginative viewers who don't want constant explanations. Campaigners for mental illness and dissociative identity disorder did not like the movie. Even still, it's encouraging to see Shyamalan back in such strong form after all these years. Keep your seat occupied until the very end to discover what other pranks he might be planning.



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Is the movie Split based on a true story - FAQs

1. What mental illness is the movie Split based on?

Disciplinary Identity The term "disorder" refers to a mental disease in the film Split.

2. Who is the man with 23 personalities?

Kevin Wendell Crumb, a man with dissociative identity disorder (DID) brought on by his experience of trauma and abandonment as a child, has successfully managed to live with his 23 separate identities for a number of years with the help of his therapist, Dr. Karen Fletcher.

3. How many girls were kidnapped in Split?

A man with 23 different personalities has been diagnosed and kidnaps three girls.

4. Who is the little girl in Split?

The primary character in the 2017 horror movie Split, Casey Cooke, is the deuteragonist of the Eastrail 177 film trilogy.

5. Is Split a scary movie?

A man with DID (disassociated identity disorder) kidnaps three teenage girls in this psychological horror movie.

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