M. Night Shyamalan is on a roll. I never thought I’d be typing these words, but it’s true. Between 2015’s funny and chilling ‘The Visit,’ and the great if a bit uneven TV show, “Wayward Pines”, M. Night Shyamalan has been quickly and intelligently finding his footing. With Split, I can confidently say he’s finally found it.

The star of the show in Split is James McAvoy’s Kevin. He’s a clean-cut, meticulous man who lives alone underground far removed from society. His labyrinth of a home is the perfect place for someone with 23 totally unique personalities to reside. You won’t see all of them emerge throughout the film, but the ones you see the most (Dennis, Barry, Patricia and Hedwig) each command a different type of reaction when they’ve “taken the light” as the film puts it, and they never fail to be interesting.

As if Kevin didn’t have enough to deal with already, he lands himself in a bit of trouble when he, as Dennis being lead by Patricia, kidnaps Casey, played by Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, Barry) and her two classmates. They’re promptly locked up in Kevin’s bunker, and they’re told that they have a greater purpose to fulfill – they’ll be fed to Kevin’s 24th personality, The Beast, once it reveals itself.

[Related] Shyamalan’s Split Has a Bit of a Twist Problem

Casey’s story is told through flashbacks, and even though it’s telegraphed pretty early on what they’re about, they’re engaging and they do a great job of showing you why you should care about her rather than telling you through dialog. Her other friends aren’t built out nearly as much, if at all, but the film doesn’t suffer for it since Casey and Kevin are so much fun to watch.

The one thing that didn’t really work for me in terms of characters is that Shyamalan uses Dennis’ OCD as a way to get the girls to strip down to just their underwear. Every time they try to escape, they get dirty and Dennis insists that they change clothes, but each new outfit is skimpier than the last. It didn’t add anything to the story and it lessened the impact of Dennis as a character.

That gripe aside, the film works because instead of relying on a big reveal or shocking twist, Shyamalan makes a play for pure, raw tension and he undoubtedly achieves it. Shots are intimate and claustrophobic but rarely sloppy and the film’s modest budget rarely makes itself apparent. Shyamalan knows exactly what kind of story he’s trying to tell, and he does it masterfully. The soundtrack only adds to the tension. It’s full of roaring, deep cello beats and in the more emotional moments the heartfelt and hopeful tones hit me deep.

On the topic of the criticism Split has drawn on its villain using mental illness as a catch-all excuse, I personally think Shyamalan treats the disorder with care. A not-so-subtle undertone of the film focuses on Kevin’s therapist’s struggle to bring Dissociative Identity Disorder as the key to unlocking the potential of the human brain – and it works. Additionally, the way Shyamalan carefully uses Casey’s past as a tool to show why she’s able to keep a cool head and outsmart Kevin’s different personalities shows that he went the extra mile to delicately show his respect for those struggling with mental illness.

Shyamalan’s low-budget return to horror is proving itself to be exactly what he needed to make great films again. Being forced to hone in on the story of his films and to draw out the best performances possible from his actors paid of in ‘The Visit’ and it definitely pays off in Split. He’s even shown a strong ability to draw a laugh for some levity in the darker moments of both films, and I hope he continues to play to his newfound strengths.

Split is the first must-see horror gem to rise above the dumping ground that is January. It releases today, January 20th.