MovieChat Forums > Split (2017) Discussion > What was the point of the girl’s child a...

What was the point of the girl’s child abuse scenes?

posted 7 years ago by mobocracy (898)
6 replies | jump to latest

Was it really just to show her with scars at the very end? Or was it to try to establish her as brave and insightful about damaged people?

I don’t really feel like those flashbacks did a lot for the present day captive girl as a character and had near zero relationship to the rest of the movie.

I almost thought as the film was ending that it would turn out this was some kind of abuse nightmare she had or that McAvoy’s character would turn out to be her childhood abuser somehow.

McAvoy was great as usual and the first 3/4 were gripping but the ending was disappointing.

[–] ArmadilloKnight (456) 7 years ago

"The broken are the more evolved."

The point was just to show that she also had traumas in her past, hence why Kevin let her live. I think the flashbacks themselves were more of a way for the director to make sure that everyone would get it.

If they just hinted at it with the scars, it might have escaped some peoples's notice. I wouldn't rule out the possibility that they are actually building up to something here either. Many characters in this universe seem to have superpowers, therefore I don't think it would be far fetched to imagine that the flashbacks worked as some kind of background or origin story for her superpowers/abilities.

You see, Kevin is a beast, she is a hunter. I think they were setting up something here.

[–] mobocracy (898) 7 years ago

Beast/Hunter is a great insight, I never made that connection and it totally explains the scenes of her learning to hunt.

[–] Ryker (194) 6 years ago

Also, like armadillo mentioned, the flashback scenes allow the film to build up to the revealing of the scars. If she had the scars there randomly at the end the scene might not have had as much impact.

[–] Ace_Spade (9616) 5 years ago

SPOILERS BELOW

I think it gave her somewhere to come from and let her character build more. She failed to defend herself as a child and clearly regrets it - it haunts her. So, the scene at the end when the Beast is after her and she's got the shotgun trained on it we can see it in her eyes that she's damn skippy she won't let herself down again: this Beast *will* get a face full of buckshot.

Overall, I think the film is about facing your inner demons, and Casey's ability to conquer her own. It's about facing down "the Beast" - the demonic side of humanity - and taking a stand against it. It's about touching off of that primal nature, engaging in "the hunt".

The scenes also establish her past with a shotgun. It's a lot more believable that a 90 pound teenage girl can wield a 12-gauge when we've seen the importance of learning to hunt in her family.

[–] Dainty (2018) 3 years ago

How was she abused. I skipped this film. It was so silly and boring.

[–] cyberbob (3488) 3 years ago

Sexually