Set within the world established by 2000's Unbreakable, security guard David Dunn uses his supernatural abilities to track Kevin Wendell Crumb, a disturbed man who has twenty-four personalities. (adapted from IMDb)

Before I get started, please know I openly discuss and recap things from Unbreakable and Split here, spoiling some key elements. I also relate them to Glass, mentioning a couple potential mini-spoilers, but I try not to divulge too much.

In 2000, newly acclaimed director M. Night Shyamalan, who made a name for himself with 1999's sleeper hit, The Sixth Sense, released his next blockbuster, again starring Bruce Willis. Unbreakable centered around a man named David Dunn (played by Willis) who miraculously survived a train wreck, serving as the lone survivor, emerging without a scratch on him. Dunn is then sought out by a mysterious man named Elijah Price who calls himself Mr. Glass (played by Samuel L. Jackson) due to a unique disease he possesses that makes his bones extremely brittle. Price found solace from his condition at a young age in comic books (a gift from his mother), coming to believe that the extraordinary characters within their flashy pages are inspired by real life people. He then adopts the belief that, if he is as breakable as glass, there must be someone out there who is unbreakable. By the end of the film, Dunn has become a believer in his strength and the two walk away as some sort of hero and nemesis pair... and Price ends up being taken into a mental institution to be treated for his delusions of grandeur (as well as some atrocities he committed). Unfortunately, the film wasn't really marketed right, and audiences were divided (should I say "split?") on how they felt about it. M. Night Shyamalan had planned a trilogy involving these characters, but its poor reception caused the idea to be scrapped. Fast forward 16 years and M. Night released the psychological thriller Split at the beginning of 2017. That film surprisingly became a critical and box office success, as the story centered on James McAvoy playing a man with 23 different unique personalities. In the film, his character kidnaps 3 teenage girls and holds them hostage, telling them they will be sacrifices for a 24th personality--a superhuman one--he called The Beast. At the end of the film, after one of the girls (Casey Cooke, played by Anya Taylor-Joy) escapes, the news brands his character as The Horde, which prompts a random person in a diner to comment that this reminds her of another person caught 15 years prior, but she couldn't remember the name. The camera then pans over to Bruce Willis sitting there, sipping coffee wearing a shirt bearing the name patch "Dunn" and informs her, "Mr. Glass."

To say that discovering something as crazy as Split was part of the world of Unbreakable is shocking to say the least. But it was no doubt exciting for anyone who knew or enjoyed the 2000 film. Just a few short months after Split left the theaters in 2017, Night announced a sequel that would unite the characters from both Unbreakable and Split, and he already had his title: Glass. By the end of 2017, production had actually moved to our own backyard, taking over an abandoned mental hospital in Allentown, PA to serve as an active, fictional mental hospital in Philadelphia. (Fun little trivia: my wife, Amy, actually served as an extra on the set for one day, and as it turns out, the back of her is visible in a very brief scene towards the end of Glass!)

When the film Glass opens, we discover that Dunn has been masquerading as a vigilante at night, clothed in his signature green poncho, as seen in Unbreakable, and inacting justice on criminals in the city of Philadelphia. We quickly learn that it's only 3 weeks after the events of Split, and Dunn is on the hunt for The Horde. At his side, helping behind the scenes, is his son, Joseph (reprised by actor Spencer Treat Clark), helping him behind the scenes. It's certainly a treat to get to see Dunn in action again, this many years later--especially in a sequel I'm sure few ever expected to see. Without spoiling too much, much of Glass ends up taking place at the Ravenhill mental hospital, and it's kept pretty small and intimate, like Split did. Most of Split involved about five characters, and there are only a handful more in Glass. With this framework in place, the story focuses a great deal on the psychological nature of these extraordinary people, deconstructing each one as Sarah Paulson's Dr. Ellie Staple tries to get to the root of their beliefs and find out why they believe themselves to be superhuman. It's a superhero film without really being a superhero film, and it recaptures some of the thematic feel of Unbreakable while injecting it with the psychological games of Split. The end result is unique, clever, and entirely intriguing.

Because Glass is essentially a marriage of Unbreakable and Split, McAvoy's character is the root of more disturbing themes and characters. Without spoiling too much (if I haven't already, and I apologize if I have), his character still bounces between personalities, including the blood-thirsty The Beast. The film starts out with him already having another group of girls in captivity (this was shown in the trailers), and it mirrors some aspects of Split. Except, this time, we have Dunn's character in the picture working to save them. The major difference with how The Horde's personalities are portrayed here, however, is that many of them are used for comedic purposes. Removed from the captive/captor setting of the previous outing, his identity-hopping is far more entertaining. (Seriously, give McAvoy an Oscar already!) Still, The Beast gets more screentime, and it allows for a few brutal killings to occur during the course of the film (although it's done in a bit less of a "horror" presentation as the first one). Secondly, the film deals a bit with the topic of Stockholm Syndrome, which really surprised me. Without divulging too much, I was surprised at the turn that a character took, and how it came into play for the story. But, ultimately, Glass serves as a complex examination of what our real world might be like if a few superhuman people existed, and the way Night portrays this is really interesting.

The only downside to the intense focus on the psychological breakdown of these characters--and the fact that the film doesn't leave the hospital grounds much--is that it allows for a lot of dialog-heavy scenes. The eventual union of the three characters in a psychological evaluation by Dr. Staple ends up feeling a bit too talk-heavy and long, while a few other scenes tend to drag just a tad. Still, anyone who's become invested in these characters through the years are likely to enjoy seeing Willis and Jackson in their respective roles again, poised to engage in a battle of strength and of the mind. Sure, the film does have a few key action scenes, but they hardly ever reach the heights you'd expect in a superhero film. In fact, I think this is purposeful given that Night never wants the superhuman elements to seem too over-the-top or surreal. The other disappointing aspect is the lack of screen time for Willis' Dunn. I recently updated my 2000 Unbreakable review to express my grown appreciation for the film (I've upped my original score from 3 to 4.5 and added an explanation at the bottom as to why), and I was most excited to see Willis reprise Dunn in Glass. In this film, Dunn seems a bit broken and tired, and it's tough to know if it's just how Willis chose to play him (i.e. more phoning it in than going all-in), or how Night wanted Dunn to be portrayed. Willis shines brightest in the film's early scenes, but things unfortunately fizzle in an unsatisfying way by the film's conclusion. It's probably the main thing I wasn't crazy about with Glass. (And Night has said that the first cut of the film was 3-and-a-half hours long, so that makes me wonder if a lot of Dunn's scenes ended up on the cutting room floor for the sake of the narrative.)

As you can imagine, the content in Glass has elements from both Unbreakable and Split in them. The Beast crushes a person's bones in a bear hug once again, but this time it's a longer segment, and after the body falls to the ground out of frame, he repeatedly beats the body violently (we don't see the impact, just the motions). There's also another scene where The Beast tackles a man and we see from the victim's perspective as he begins eating the person just off-screen to the side (we don't see this or the Beast's face, we just see the side of his head and hear the sounds), and then we see The Beast come back into frame with blood on his mouth and fingers as he licks them. Previously, there's a shocking scene where a man is suddenly slit in the throat, which we don't see graphically, but we see it from behind the victim and hear all the related sound effects, and then see a bloody shard of glass get thrown to the floor. We then see the body from a distance lying on a bed with a blood stain under their head (which grows larger in shots we see of this that follow). Finally, a character is shot, and we see their bare abdomen from their perspective when they look down, and we see lots of blood pour out of the wound before they cover it with their hands (and we see it again a couple times with more blood pooling around their hands). Language is infrequent, but there are a couple uses of the "S" word and some blasphemy (even from M. Night during his brief cameo). There are several moments that are intense or even shocking, and aspects of the finale are somewhat disturbing. There are definitely quite a few deaths at the end of the movie, as well, and some are sad to watch. The themes of the film add a lot of weight to the proceedings as well, continuing to examine our purposes in life, how we process tragedy and trauma, and even our own perceptions of ourselves and others in our lives.

Glass is an unexpected and unusual finale to a modest but worthwhile trilogy. Unbreakable was a film that grew better with time, while Split is a disturbing thriller that had great acting, an intriguing premise, and was made much better (to me at least), by its ties to Unbreakable. Glass is the culmination of the two, and a fair mix of tone and content from both, so if you didn't like either one, there's a good chance you wouldn't like Glass. Still, I'd say Glass is less menacing, disturbing or scary than Split, but it still has moments that could be described by each of those adjectives, mostly because of the presence of The Beast character. If you liked either film, check out Glass. It's not your usual superhero/comic book film, and M. Night's cinematic creative genius makes the film a much more worthwhile experience than your usual fantastical fare--just don't go in expecting an action-packed thrill ride.

Alternate Opening - There is an alternate opening to the film, with an introduction by director/writer M. Night Shyamalan (2:57) or without it (2:13). I was curious to hear what he had to say about it, and it was interesting to hear his take. This version was intended to set up that the whole movie as taking place in one location--the mental hospital. The scene shows people installing cameras in the hospital and setting up their impending new inmates. It actually hints a bit at what is to come...

Deleted Scenes - There are a dozen deleted scenes, available with a Play All option and available with (25:38) or without (14:22) introductions from M. Night. The "Intro" is Night talking about why he filmed too much footage for this movie and trying to tie up the trilogy (which he's never done before in filmmaking). "David Alone at Bar" just shows him sitting in a bar despite the police looking for his alter ego. "Patrícia Talks to Cheerleaders" shows Dennis and Patricia arguing around the corner from the captive cheerleaders before Patrícia goes over to them to introduces herself. "David Encounters Pierce" shows the two sort of staring each other down when Pierce visits David in his cell. "Casey in Art Class" was a new way to introduce her as having a newfound confidence following the events of Split. "Dr. Staple Explains Machine" establishes her as having done this kind of procedure before on previous patients. "Mrs. Price in Waiting Room" is a great little intro to her after 19 years. "Mrs. Price Talks to Elijah" is a little scene where she talks to him, while he's in his wheel chair, about her life now. "Dr. Staple Drinks Tea" shows her sitting outside on the steps of the hospital with a courtyard of patients nearby. One crazy woman points at her and laughs, like she knows who she really is. "Pierce Checks Elijah’s Room" is another hint that Elijah is messing with Pierce. "Mrs. Price Tells Elijah About Surgery" shows her trying to explain the lobotomy procedure to Elijah while he's in his wheel chair, and he smiles at her, informing her he's aware. Night says he cut the scene because it kind of implicates her as being supportive of his villainous ways. "David Submits to Dr. Staples" is an interesting little scene where he asks her if he could be free with his son if he chose to have the surgery. "Patient Worships the Beast" is a disturbing little scene in a back hallway of the hospital where the "broken" come to The Beast as if he's some kind of savior. He hugs them and they practically bow down to him.

The Collection of Main Characters (8:57) has a Play All option with little segments for each of the main characters. "David Dunn" (1:56) features the actors and Night talking about Bruce Willis and how Dunn's character has changed over time. Night recalls how Bruce has been so supportive of him throughout his career, having looked after him during his early twenties as a new director. "Elijah Price" (2:01) focuses on Elijah's changes through the years since Unbreakable. "Kevin Wendell Crumb" (2:58) features James McAvoy talking about how the character's personalities were birthed out of an abusive childhood. Anya talks about the character, too, and how hers relates to his. Sarah Paulson also talks about how she marveled at McAvoy's powerhouse performance. Finally, "The Rest of the Family" (2:02) focuses briefly on David's son, Casey, and Mrs. Price and how they’re important to these other characters.

A Conversation with James McAvoy and M. Night Shyamalan (5:10) - James and Night talks about the various characters he plays, while Night talks about the movies in the trilogy all having their own individual tone and feel. (1 "h*ll")

Bringing the Team Back Together (2:55) looks back at M. Night's film crew "family" over 20 years and how this production reunited many of them. You can tell there's a lot of love that goes around among this crew.

David Dunn vs The Beast (2:11) - For this movie, they were going for real action and keeping it minimal. They knew they were making a comic book movie at 1/10th the budget of most comic book movies. (1 "h*ll")

Glass Decoded (2:53) - Here, Night talks how he uses color in all three movies--how it’s muted when the characters doubt their abilities, but more colorful as they believe in them.

Breaking Glass: The Stunts (1:28) - This briefly shows how they used two stunt doubles jumping out the window of the factory building, along with a special effects green screen shot inside a studio, to complete the effect in the film.

Connecting the Glass Universe (2:54) - Night talks about how he wanted to set this film apart from the other two movies in tone, yet pull the stories together. His goal was to explore the idea-- What if comic books were based on reality?

M. Night Shyamalan: Behind the Lens (2:47) - This featurette is all about M. Night, as talked about by the actors in Glass. They talk about his methods, and he addresses his own insecurities as an artist and how that comes into play with his work. (1 "My G-d")

The Sound of Glass (1:51) touches on the film's score and how it was even recorded from inside the abandoned hospital used in the film. The composer talks about using clicks and clocks, and unusual sounds to achieve the tension... and how he spent 9 months working on the music.

Enhancing the Spectacle (2:54) addresses the special effects seen in the film, from enhancing The Beast's veins to adding a tarp to the water tank and enhancing the action in that sequence. They also show how the Philadelphia skyline was inserted into the Allentown horizon, and how they made the new skyscraper building that's mentioned in the movie with digital effects.

Raven Hill Memorial (2:17) is dedicated to the real, abandoned mental hospital used in the film that is located in Allentown, PA (really close to where we're based out of, actually!). M. Night talks about how spooky it was to film in there, and how he couldn't get out of there fast enough on the last day filming!

Night Vision (1:57) is about the storyboarding done for the film and how Night relies on the storyboards to recreate those compositions for the final film.