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Malignant
(Warner Bros. Pictures/New Line Cinema)
By Lucas Allen
While he’s becoming known for his blockbuster hits “Furious 7” and “Aquaman,” James Wan has become one of horror’s most visionary directors thanks in part to his franchises “Saw,” “Insidious” and “The Conjuring.” This year, he seems to be heading in a new direction with his new original film “Malignant.” If the trailer doesn’t interest you, you may be surprised by what this one has in store.
All her life, Madison (Annabelle Wallis) knew there was something wrong with herself. She’s been having miscarriages, which is not helped by her husband Derek (Jake Able) being abusive to her. One night, she finds him being murdered by a ghostly entity that broke into their house. Afterwards, she starts experiencing visions of the same entity murdering different people, and the visions turn out to be real. Together with her younger sister Cindy (Maddie Hasson), Madison tries to unravel the mystery of her sudden visions.
Meanwhile, the murders are being investigated by Detective Shaw (George Young) and his partner Moss (Michole Briana White). They begin to suspect that the murders are connected to Madison and she may be responsible for them. But no one could realize that this mysterious murderer known only to Madison as Gabriel is more connected to her past and the terrifying revelations he came with.
Wan isn’t fooling around with this story when he creates a compelling mystery that’s more intricate than what the trailer could show. For the first two-thirds of the film, you’ll find yourself second guessing whatever you think could be the big reveal. But then when that third-act reveal finally comes, it’ll hit you as hard as a sledgehammer to your head and you won’t be able to forget it. Overall, Wan carefully crafted his twisty film like a mystery writer would, but also give it an extra kick.
Also, in those first two-thirds, the movie builds on both atmosphere and suspense with the scares that fans of Wan’s past horror hits can expect. It starts to drag in parts with the detective characters kept being the focus in some scenes when they should’ve been more like background characters. However, it still tries to stick closely with the main character including the audiences experience those dark visions with her. It also incorporates some flashback sequences with a young Madison (McKenna Grace) to add some more depth to the film’s mystery. The set-up is certainly decent at first, but the level of terror it inspires help shape it to its eventual form.
But in the third act once the twist is revealed is where the movie goes completely off-the-rails. Soon enough, Wan decides to bring the shock value to a higher level with blood, guts, and broken bones. It’s such a shocking display of gory violence, the difference of tone from before feels jarring like a young Peter Jackson suddenly directing it. For horror fans on the other hand, it’s certainly an awesome experience.
The acting is also very decent with no standout performances that are memorable. However, Wallis does the emotional heavy load in a nice professional manner, which certainly helps the story.
“Malignant” has the makings of a cult classic with horror fans when the story sets up in one direction before going in an unexpectedly different direction. Of course, it remains to be seen if it’ll be remembered years from now, but it’s worth a watch if you can take the third act.
THE MOVIE’S RATING: R (for strong horror violence and gruesome images, and for language)
THE CRITIC’S RATING: 3.25 Stars (Out of Four)
