In the film Split, the kidnapped girls are held captive in a secret underground lair located beneath the Philadelphia Zoo. This hidden location serves as the primary setting for their imprisonment and interaction with the various personalities of their captor.
The Secret Location
The girls are confined to a meticulously designed and isolated subterranean space that remains hidden from the outside world. This lair is specifically situated underneath the Philadelphia Zoo, providing both a cover for their captor's activities and a symbolic backdrop for the unfolding events.
Key Figures Within the Lair
Within this underground facility, the girls encounter several distinct personalities of their abductor, each playing a unique role in their ordeal:
- "Patricia": A highly organized and seemingly maternal alter who protects the girls from the more dangerous personalities, specifically "Dennis," with the ultimate goal of "saving" them for a powerful emerging alter known as "The Beast."
- "Dennis": An obsessive-compulsive personality responsible for the abduction and confinement of the girls. He enforces strict rules and maintains the structure of their captivity within the lair.
- "Hedwig": A childlike 9-year-old boy alter. Despite his youth, Hedwig is revealed to be a key figure within the complex system of personalities, sometimes manipulated by Patricia and Dennis to control access and communication among the alters. His presence in the lair often offers the girls brief moments of insight or a potential, albeit dangerous, opportunity for escape.
The interactions with these distinct personalities within the confines of the underground lair are central to the film's plot, highlighting the psychological complexity of the captor and the desperate struggle for survival of the girls.
