Malignant (2021)

Let me start by saying I left this movie with more questions than answers, confused about what I'd just watched. I laughed more than I cowered and I yelled obscenities at the TV more than once because nothing about it made sense to me. The whole time I felt like the direction of the story was being chosen by a Magic 8 Ball rather than a coordinated effort to craft a horror story about a malignancy. From the choppy story telling to the ending that aired on cheesy without closure over what the hell is going to happen to the main character now. I'd also caution I might be the wrong audience for this or maybe missing some key detail that ties it all together but the horror scenes in this movie never lived up to the expectations that the excellent tension and suspense building promised.

Directed by James Wan, the horror legend responsible for directing Saw, Insidious, and The Conjuring among various other titles under various roles including writer and producer. Although Malignant isn't my favorite it would be insane to even float that Wan isn't a leader of horror and one of the extremely talented voices that has helped revitalize the genre in recent years and kept it going when the chips were down. The screenplay is by Akela Cooper, the writer for Hell Fest 2018 and M3GAN 2022, and the story is by both Wan and Cooper in addition to Ingrid Bisu.

With the involvement of big horror names it's no surprise that Malignant has a ton of great camera work. From wide shots to bird's eye views, navigating houses like they are doll houses through walls and levels, and the camera movements in the action sequences the creativity and innovation in those is engaging to watch. The movie begins with promise, scares, mystery and downright gruesome portrayals of violence. That was consistent throughout much of the earlier parts of the film, leading one to anticipate that style of storytelling and tone for the remainder of the movie. Seemingly out of left field this developed and curated atmosphere is shattered when the violent action sequences waver into hokey 80's spoof territory than anything serious.

The more that is shown of the scary monster the less scary that monster becomes, much of the film we aren't privvy to who this mysertious killer is which are the most effective parts. The scene we do learn the truth about this slayer is the turning point for the film, with every choice adding to the tone shift that completely disrupts the building terror. If you have seen the film the turning point I'm referencing is when main character Madison, portrayed by Annabelle Wallis, is locked in a jail cell and the subsequent back and forth in the police station. I couldn't take it seriously and felt like I was watching a comedy more than anything else. I kept thinking of the word ‘silly’ post reveal; how it walked: silly, it crafting its weapon: silly, it climbing up the wall to threaten it's abducted mother in Madison’s attic: silly. My initial fear had dissolved by that point of the movie and instead I found myself cracking jokes about the bad CGI effects in the battle scene and the weird voice given to the monster.

This reveal is also why I left more confused than entertained or afraid. I found myself unable to suspend belief enough and felt that the plot hadn't done a good enough job of getting to the point when the monster would've been belivable. In unexplained ways the monster-person has insane strength coupled with wild abilities that aren't explained with training or powers. The ending is also unsatisfying due to the reveal and it feels like no one really faces justice or retribution for the awful actions of the monster-person. The scenario the plot sets up then doesn't make sense and also doesn't end in a way that feels complete and real. In addition to this the characters rely on the strength of one person to stop the events from happening again.

The cool transition scenes added with the interesting portrayals of events happening inside of the mind like the world melting around someone are fun but don't quite make up for what the plot lacked. I left watching Malignant feeling like I had when I watched some of the later Saw movies, that the concept is there but ultimately the style choices and script make it hokey and unserious. It isn't a terrible watch but it also isn't satisfying and past the point of the turn it isn't necessarily attention grabbing other than in waves of "WTF happened?!" in response to the directional choices. I'd love to watch a similiar core idea portrayed in a style that was more consistent to the tone of the film throughout and feel that would be a better version. If you want to own Malignant 2021 you can purchase or rent a digital copy from YouTube by clicking here or get the DVD now by clicking here.