James McAvoy is Brilliant in M. Night Shamaylan’s GLASS

Growing up as a military dependent, often times I didn’t fit in.  Our family was often one of the few or sometimes the only family of color on the base.  It made for a very polarizing and lonely way to grow up.  So, in some respect I could relate to the characters spotlighted in the finally chapter of M. Night Shyamalan’s cinema series – GLASS.

When we meet up with “The Beast,”, “Mr. Glass,” and “David Dunn,” they are all in very different paths picking up where we left off with each of them in Unbreakable and Split.  It is the unlikely meeting of The Beast and David that spins a brand new turn of events leading them all into a mental facility run by Dr. Ellie Staple, (Sara Paulson)  a psychiatrist who treats patients who believe they have superpowers.

19 years in the making, the first act of GLASS is captivating, but then it slips into a cliché of its genre, only to pick up steam within the last 45 minutes of the film.  James McAvoy is the real star of this suspenseful thriller.  McAvoy effectively inhabits 24 different personalities, seamlessly switching  from one to another holding the attention of the audience each time he fills the screen.

Like superheroes misunderstood as villains, Glass, Dunn and Kevin all have that one person that loves and support them no matter what.  Charlayne Woodard (Elijah’s Mother) reminds audiences of what unconditional ‘mommy” love looks and feels like.  She encourages Elijah Glass to embrace his uniqueness and to not be intimidated into change.  Casey (Anna Taylor-Joy) believes that Kevin is a victim of circumstances and Joseph Dunn really does believe his father (Bruce Willis) is a bona fide superhero.

Honestly, only fans of Shyamalan’s work will appreciate this film.  For those who are newbies, like one viewer I encountered, who was totally geeked to screen Unbreakable and Split to see how we indeed got to GLASS.

GLASS is a dark, suspenseful ride through psychological trauma from the perspective of three very different men and will leave you asking is being different really such a bad thing.  Produced by Universal Pictures, GLASS hits theaters on January 18th.