” . . . the rest of me.”
Directed by: June Daguiso
Written by: Erik Kristopher Myers
Cast: Allison Messina, Torsten Kellar, Kendra North, John C. Bailey
Swift shot: Ever seen The Room, a film so bad that it was loved by gonzo junkies for pure mockery fodder? A Split Personality could give The Room some earnest competition. Director June Daguiso manages to give a fairly decent short script a brutal death, rife with bad acting, bad blocking, bad audio, bad editing, and bad ideas, A Split Personality is still, oddly, watchable. Will it be the next cult-classic that drama nerds will eat up as they roll joints filled with oregano and huff cheese-whiz? No idea. But, I can tell you I was never actually bored, and I genuinely wanted to see what happened to these ridiculous characters . . . technically speaking, anyway. Actually, no, let’s never mention anything technical with this film ever again.
There’s a serial killer doing vicious things to men in D.C. [Swift aside: It’s a shame the killer couldn’t eradicate some politicians, alas, that’s a different story.]
Rowena (Messina) is a wife with many secrets, she’s got Disassociative Identity Disorder, or as Hollywood loves to categorize it, a split personality. And, we know this only because we are spoon fed the information half-way through the 60 minute film. Messina tried to convey crazy, but it came across as constipation, coupled with a confused gawk that left me wondering what the hell she was thinking half the time. That aside, her character was full of potential given the right film-makers, they really could have made her sizzle and terrify. I can only assume that was the intended goal.
Her husband, Robert (Kellar) is a piece of shit, essentially he’s not someone you want to root for at all. As the story develops, he’s clearly got a few secrets of his own. Rowena’s sister, Lauren (North) tries to keep the family together. Lest you forget, Robert and Rowena have two children that they are trying to raise, all while dealing with some tragic family secrets.
So, the killer is on the loose, and two wonderfully written detectives are trying to end the spree. There’s one solid reason this film avoided the complete shit category, John C. Bailey as detective What’s His Face. Bailey gets it, he plays the character over the top campy and his lines are terrific. Literally everyone else in the film is giving these (in their heads) award winning performances, and Bailey is well aware of the type of film he’s in, and what it means to his career. You can almost hear him turn to the camera and say, fuck it, watch this before he delivers each line.
To find out what happens to this family, who the killer is, how many people are killed, how they are killed and their captivating back-stories, you’ll need to see A Split Personality for yourself. And, should you wish to shell out less than a small coffee costs at Dunkin Donuts, here’s the link: A Split Personality.
Disclaimer, I have become online friends with the writer, Erik Kristopher Myers, ever since he directed and wrote a film starring one of my friends from college. You can read that review here: Roulette – It is like The Odyssey in comparison to A Split Personality.
