The American filmmaker and actor M. Night Shyamalan’s latest film, Glass, hit theaters last Thursday. The film is a combined sequel to two of his previous movies- Unbreakable(2000) and Split(2016). The large time gap between the two movies made the crossover shocking to many.
As someone who has always thoroughly enjoyed all of Shyamalan’s films, I was ecstatic to see what he had created for Glass. Unbreakable and Split are my favorite movies of his, so I assumed that the combination of the two would top any movie he could ever make.
Glass brings together three characters Shyamalan has created: David Dunn and Elijah Price from Unbreakable and Kevin W. Crumb from Split. They are people who believe that they possess superhuman powers. Because of this belief, they are placed in psychiatric hospital facility, where they are observed by Dr.Ellie Staple. Staples’ goal in the movie is to obtain evidence that would support her theory that they do not really possess these superhero like traits.
After seeing the movie on opening night, I concluded that Glass is not one of Shyamalan’s greatest works and will end up being a disappointment to his many fans.
Anyone who has seen one of Shyamalan’s films knows that towards the end, he often reveals a plot twist. With the movie being 2 hours and 9 minutes long, the build up to the twist was heavy and suspenseful, but it was hard to understand the revelation without confusion. The twist unveiled Dr. Staples as actually being part of a secret society that is introduced with little explanation. The society was planning on keeping the three superheroes concealed from the world all along because they believed the traits they claimed to possess were real. But Elijah Price, or Mr. Glass, knew the plan all along and created his own strategy that would expose their capabilities to the world just after their death.
Since the twist was so complicated and revealed in a short amount of time, it causes the whole movie plot line to seem pointless and dragged on. The twist creates a depthness and intensity in the character’s traits that was not portrayed in the two previous movies. Shyamalan tried to expand on an idea that didn’t even exist in the first place.
If you were wanting to see Glass, I would suggest waiting for it to hit DVDs before wasting money to see it in theaters. It is definitely a movie you should see if you are a fan of Shyamalan’s work, but if you are looking for a movie to start with, this is not the one for you.
Hi! My name is Lyric and I am a senior editor and the website editor for The Mycenaean. I am also Vice President of Quill and Scroll Society, Makeup Crew Head, and a member of National English Honor Society.