M. Night Shyamalan is a director known for his mind-shattering twists, and 2016's Split was certainly no exception. The psychological thriller told the story of James McAvoy's Kevin Wendell Crumb-- a man living with dissociative identity disorder. We saw as some of his personalities kidnapped a group of girls to sacrifice to The Beast, a seemingly invincible being living within Kevin's personalities aka The Horde.
Anya Taylor-Joy played Casey Cooke, the sole survivor of The Beast's attack in Split. Casey will once again pop up in Glass, which is set just weeks after her ordeal with The Horde. I got to speak with Taylor-Joy about her Glass role at the film's press junket, where she revealed her one concern ahead of the character's second appearance. Specifically, that she wasn't completely healed from her trauma. As she elaborated:
That was something that was a bit concerning to me. When I first came back to Night I was like 'Hey, it's been three weeks.' She's better, but we can't just say that everything's fine now, and she's okay. She's going to be struggling with this for the rest of her life, as do so many victims.
While Casey has escaped from both The Beast and her abusive uncle by the end of Split, that doesn't mean she's out of the woods. As such, Anya Taylor-Joy wanted the character's sordid history to still be very much at her core. Being the final girl doesn't mean you survive without your emotional scars.
Anya Taylor-Joy's comments show how methodically the New Mutants actress approached Glass, and how much the character Casey Cooke means to her. Casey carried the heart of Split, as the film's hero whose tragic past was slowly unraveled throughout the course of the film. As she attempted to connect with Kevin and his personalities, it was revealed that Casey was routinely abused by her guardian/uncle. It's her vulnerability and physical scars that stop The Beast from killing her, as her survivor's spirit freed her from both villains in her life.
Casey is the only Split character besides Kevin that is returning for Glass. Unfortunately, Casey's schoolmates and Betty Buckley's Dr. Karen Fletcher were all killed by The Beast in the film's final act, as his apparent superpowers manifested. From Glass' trailer, it's clear that Kevin and Casey's connection will be part of the narrative, as she visits him in the facility run by Sarah Paulson's Ellie Staple.
The stakes are high for M. Night Shyamalan to deliver with Glass, and bring a fitting end to the stories of Unbreakable and Split. Both of those movies have been career highs for the director, so the fandom will be disappointed by anything less than a killer conclusion. Furthermore, the director invested his own money to produce the film, which is already tracking well for its opening weekend.
_Gla_ss is in theaters now. Be sure to check out our 2019 release list to plan your trips to the movies in the New Year.
