Warning: This post contains spoilers for Split and the Cloverfield films.

M. Night Shyamalan’s own career is as split as the main character in his latest success. Coming off of critical flops like After Earth and The Last Airbender, Shyamalan needed a win, badly. He earned a modest one with The Visit, turning a $5 M budget into nearly $100 M at the box office, and critically faring far better than the “disaster zone of Chernobyl-esque proportions” that was After Earth. While a success story by any measure, however, The Visit still sits third from the bottom of his directorial features. But nothing could prepare his fans for what was next to come.

“Shyamalan offered nothing in the way of story, trailer, or marketing until the film’s closing seconds indicating a connection between Split and Unbreakable.”

Shyamalan returned to expand on, arguably, his best property: Unbreakable. However, he managed to do it in a way that no one saw coming. Rather than merely continue the story of David Dunn, Split brings us entirely new characters with shocking and surprising abilities. Furthermore, setting the story of Dennis/Patricia/Hedwig/The Beast/(you get the idea) in the “Unbreakable” universe works doubly well. Shyamalan specializes in introducing supernatural elements to an otherwise normal world. Applied to the superhero genre, his approach grounds superhuman abilities in a way never seen before or since.

Even more surprising, Shyamalan offered nothing in the way of story, trailer, or marketing until the film’s closing seconds indicating a connection between Split and Unbreakable. This achievement should not be overlooked. We live in a world where studios routinely green-light unnecessary remakes and reboots purely to capitalize on nostalgia. Somehow, Shyamalan was able to film, promote, and distribute Split without any hint of the connection. Granted, the cult status of Unbreakable may have helped, as a Sixth Sense sequel might not so easily be kept covert.

Regardless, the story of Shyamalan’s Split contrasts well against J.J.’s Cloverfield universe. Let’s look at it next.