James Wan, mostly cherished for his horror genre films, is an Australian director, producer, screenwriter, and comic book writer. His debut film was a commercial success, Saw in 2004. Also, Wan created the Insidious series (2010, 2013) and The Conjuring Universe (2013,2016). Conjuring is the second highest-grossing horror franchise ever. He also tried something out of horror-type movies like Furious 7 and Aquaman, which were quite impressive. But this time, Mr. Wan made his horror movie comeback with Malignant in 2021, which this article will review.
Malignant is a film adaptation of Stephanie Perkins’ novel ‘There’s Someone Inside Your House’ (2017). Starring Annabelle Wallis as the lead, it shares a scary chain of incidents creating an atmosphere of horror. It generates horror, as what if your bad dreams come true? What if you see someone dying in your visions and it’s dead in real? In this article, we will try to review Wan’s comeback with Malignant and have some insights into its pros and cons. So let’s begin.
About Malignant
Malignant is a James Wan horror movie from 2021 that stars Annabelle Wallis in the lead. Wan, along with Ingrid Bisu and Akela Cooper, wrote this story. Warner Bros. Pictures released it theatrically on September 10, 2021. The review of the movie Malignant was mostly positive.
The Star Cast and The Plot
Madison Lake-Mitchell (Annabelle Wallis) is a pregnant woman who returned to her rude spouse, Derek Mitchell (Jake Abel). Their arguments about her previous miscarriages heat up to a level where Derek smashes her head on the wall. She locks herself in the bedroom and sleeps. Madison sees a man killing Derek in her dream. And, shockingly, he’s dead as she wakes up.
The attacker next attacks her, and she wakes up in the hospital. Her sister, Sydney (Maddie Hasson), informs her of the miscarriage. However, Madison has no memories before when she was eight. Police detective Kekoa Shaw (George Young) and his partner Regina Moss (Michole Briana White) take up her case.
Madison again witnesses the death of Dr. Weaver (Jacqueline McKenzie) and Dr. Fields (Christian Clemenson) in a dream. Dr. Gregory (Amir Aboulela) also dies. The detectives proceed with their case and learn that Madison was Emily May. She was born with her twin brother Gabriel (Ray Chase, Marina Mazepa).
And he is the killer in her visions. Gabriel is her parasitic twin, which Weaver operated and removed. He was dead until Derek hit her head on the wall, with his brain still intact behind her head. Gabriel’s face now emerges from her back and operates from the back of her body.
Police arrest Madison for kidnapping Serena May (Jean Louisa Kelly). Gabriel takes control of Madison’s body and escapes prison. Sydney informs Madison about Gabriel feeding on her fetuses which caused her previous miscarriages. When she regains body control, she affirms her love for her non-blood sister, Sydney. Gabriel’s attacks are heard faintly in the closing scene.
Malignant Review
In Wan’s Malignant movie review, one thing is for sure, it tried to present a unique medical horror story that’s enough to give you chills. With the apt cinematography and sound design, the movie is full of twists and turns, revealing the layers of mysteries one at a time.
The use of red color in intense scenes helps build the stress of upcoming jumpscares or the so-called ghost’s attack. The sound design added to the gruesomeness of the scenes involving Gabriel’s killings.
The different characters were well placed. The main lead, Madison, went through a rollercoaster ride of emotional trauma. And Wallis did justice to the emotions of damage of pregnancies, abusive marriage, and defense against her parasitic twin, who haunts her to the end.
Malignant once again does well with the jumpscares. The malformed-faced Gabriel, operating backward to typical human motions, was a creative try.
Overall, unlike the predictable torch scenes, and dark corridors accompanied by scary noises of animals, Malignant was able to serve something different this time. It does go over the top sometimes, but it can be said to be a good movie.
ALSO READ: Inception Review: The CGI Thriller, Way Ahead of its Time
