Malignant is a 2021 horror thriller directed by James Wan, the man who brought us Saw, Insidious, and The Conjuring. The screenplay is from Akela Cooper, and is based on an original story by Wan, Ingrid Bisu and Cooper. The film tells the story of Madison, a woman who is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities.
The talented cast includes Annabelle Wallis, Jake Abel, George Young, Jacqueline McKenzie, and Mckenna Grace.
Malignant made its debut in theaters and streaming on HBO Max September 10th for a limited time, courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.
THE GOOD
As a horror fan through and through, once the trailer dropped for Malignant, I couldn’t wait for its release. I mean the trailer itself was intriguing on its own, but the name James Wan is what sold me from the start. Wan has become a fixture in the horror community, and has directed his fair share of great films over the years, most notably 2010’s The Conjuring, which kicked off one heck of a franchise. But with a name like his attached comes high expectations, so the obvious question becomes, does Malignant live up to these expectations?
Overall, I was pleased. Malignant is quite an experience, and will undoubtedly keep your attention for the entire almost 2-hours. I was never bored, not even a little bit, and couldn’t wait for the story to unravel and reveal what the heck was going on. The visuals were incredible, and created this really cool immersive experience as you were part of these “nightmares” right along with the main character. They did a fantastic job with that part of the film. The writing was great for the most part as well, offering viewers breadcrumbs throughout but never revealing anything until the end even though you could tell the conclusion was going to catch you off guard. I was also impressed with the performance from Annabelle Wallis in the lead role which was a big positive for the overall impact of the film. She is nearly unrecognizable with her dark hair which was a nice touch for the ominous tone of the film.
Bottom line, Malignant is a very entertaining horror “hybrid”. What I mean by that is it really isn’t a true horror film, blending sci-fi action elements especially towards the end, more specifically the films final act. One thing about James Wan is the guy loves to wow audiences, for better or for worse. Whether he is “goring it up” with Saw, or jumping vehicles off cliffs in Furious 7, he is a man that thrives when he can step outside of his comfort zone and get creative. A few scenes even had a John Wick vibe which I certainly did not expect going in. One thing is for sure, you will not see the ending coming with Malignant, but how you actually feel about it will be the big question. I won’t give anything away of course, but it surely caught me off guard. Instead of writing this review right away I took some time to digest things, and I feel a little different about it now than I did right after I finished the movie. And to be honest, I am going to re-watch it again soon which is always a good sign.
I absolutely LOVED the soundtrack for Malignant, it just added so much to the overall experience which is an underrated part of filmmaking these days if you ask me. The featured track that will no doubt end up stuck in your head, is “Where Is My Mind” by Pixies. The song was also prominently used in the final scene of the hit film, Fight Club (1999). It was cool because during Malignant the song would start playing after a pivotal scene with a well placed slo-mo just for added effect. Just a really nice addition, you will get it once you see the movie.
THE BAD
I really enjoyed Malignant as you can tell, but it certainly had it’s issues which keep it from being great. The acting was good but not great especially from the supporting cast, but I don’t think it necessarily took too much away from the film. I also thought most of the characters lacked any real unique qualities. My biggest issue with this movie is that it felt like some sort of genre clashing experience by the time you reached the ending. I won’t spoil it but the ending is next level ridiculous and almost humorous in a way. I personally would have preferred sticking with more of a horror storyline especially considering how great the first half or so of the movie was. It had the makings of a horror classic early on but decided to take a bit of a detour into other genres, and was also plagued by some poor writing at times.
Another significant issue I had with Malignant is the fact that it wasn’t very scary. I mean sure, early on it has some great horror elements and had me creeped out for the first 45 minutes to an hour, but I also watched it late at night with every single light in the house off. Okay at one point something in the pantry fell and the stability ball decided to roll across the living room floor on its own which was a little nerve wracking, but I recovered. Thanks to a pretty ridiculous conclusion, I was able to turn off the TV and go straight to bed without much of an issue. It just ended up feeling more like a sci-fi action film than it did a horror, which is good and bad I suppose.
THE VERDICT
Entertaining from start to finish and unique in many ways, James Wan’s Malignant highlights the directors signature style with an abundance of blood and gore and an admittedly outlandish final act sure to get mixed reactions. Overall, I was very pleased with this movie and felt like it held my attention and even warrants some repeat viewings, but the ending definitely took away from the overall potential to be a clear cut horror classic. I am still conflicted on whether or not I can even consider this a true horror film for the reasons I previously pointed out, but sometimes its better to be a little different instead of doing what everyone expects you to do. Whether you see Malignant in theaters or stream it on HBO Max, it is absolutely worth a watch so that you can form your own opinion. If you want to watch something that’ll keep you up at night, check out my recent review for The Night House here.
TED TAKES RATING - 6.8/10
Malignant is now playing in theaters and streaming on HBO Max. Check out the latest trailer below.