Malignant Hollywood Movie Review: Malignant (2021) is an American horror movie directed by James Wan. Malignant was released on the 10th of September 2021 in the United States and it will also stream on HBO Max. James Wan is already very famous for his impactful horror works like Saw, Insidious franchises, and The Conjuring series. He also directed Furious 7 (2015) and Aquaman (DC). Malignant is produced by Warner Bros. Pictures with a running time of 111 min.
The trailer of Malignant sets horror and thrilling expectations in the eyes of the audience. Movie is R-rated and the visuals are epic in the trailer. The movie gives vibes of old classics but with a special pinch of modernity.
It is based on an original story which is given by James Wan, Ingrid Basu, and Akela Cooper. The malignant movie is the screenplay by Akela Cooper and directed by James Wan and Micheal Clear.
Starring
- Annabelle Wallis as Emily May / Madison “Maddie” Lake-Mitchell
- Maddie Hasson as Sydney Lake
- George Young as Det. Kekoa Shaw
- Michole Briana White as Det. Regina Moss
- Marina Mazepa as Gabriel
- Jacqueline McKenzie as Dr. Florence Weaver
- Ingrid Bisu as Winnie
Supporting Cast
- Mckenna Grace as young Emily May
- Jake Abel as Derek Mitchell
- Maddie Hasson as Sydney Lake
- George Young as Det. Kekoa Shaw
- Michole Briana White as Det. Regina Moss
- Jean Louisa Kelly as Serena May / “Jane Doe”
- Madison Wolfe as young Serena May
- Susanna Thompson as Jeanne Lake
- Jake Abel as Derek Mitchell
- Jacqueline McKenzie as Dr. Florence Weaver
- Christian Clemenson as Dr. Victor Fields
- Amir AboulEla as Dr. John Gregory
- Ingrid Bisu as Winnie
- Andy Bean as Frank Lake
- Patricia Velásquez as Nurse Velasquez
- Zoë Bell as Scorpion
Lead Role
Annabelle Wallis was playing the role of Madison Mitchell, a woman who suffers from bizarre and has the vision to see brutal murders of people. She was the ultimate focus of the story. Maddie Hassan was playing the role of sister of Madison, later the story revealed that she wasn’t actually her sister because both sisters were adopted.
The role for Madison’s husband Derek Michell was done by Jake Abel, his role is short and actually, his abusive role became the reason for the entire movie Malignant. The role of the Police detective (Tekoa Shaw) and his assistant (Regina Moss) was done very well by George Young and Michole Briana White respectively.
All the horror eventually vanished as the story reached its end. Amazing work is done by the team and that is really appreciable.
Story-Plot
The story begins with an unstable child named Gabriel having the power to communicate via electronic devices such as radio, phone, etc. As the scene changes, a pregnant woman named Maddie (Madison) comes home with her husband and while conversation her husband smashes her head on the wall, blood comes from her head. Her husband immediately went for first aid, somehow she managed to close the door. She wakes up with a dream of a man (Gabrial) who brutally murdered her husband and all these happen in real life also.
Maddie lost her child and lost her husband. After this incident, she was able to see the brutal deaths of people that were really going on in the real world too. The police detective Shaw is able to find the link of all incidents with her past and eventually find that Maddie and Gabriel were twins and Gabriel’s face was on her back of head. Because of his unusual powers, doctors have to separate him from Maddie’s body. When Maddie’s husband pushed her against the wall, Gabriel became active in her brain. All the brutal deaths were done by Maddie himself because her whole body is in Gabriel’s control and hence Maddie saw those brutal murders in her unconscious mind.
At the end when Gabriel attempts to kill Sydney (Maddie’s sister), Maddie takes back all the controls of her body and the trapped Gabriel in her mind. This is how the story ends.
Review (4/5)
The movie is another amazing masterpiece by James Wan. The story is really unique, you can’t predict the ending of the story, and really gives you a good amount of thriller and horror experience. If you are a lover of horror movies then it might not stand with your expectations because the movie has a trick in the end that converts all the horror of the movie into thriller and tragic suspense.
Most people like the movie not because of horror but because of the exceptional story and the great direction given by James Wan. The action scenes, camera angles, visuals, and background music are amazing. Especially the quality of the visual graphics used to depict the terrific dreams of Madison. The funniest thing is that some people like the movie because of its action and fight sequence rather than the horrific and terror of brutal murders.
On a final note, the story is itself unique, unpredictable and give amazing thriller in the last quarter of the movie with actions, fighting sequences and initial horror sequences.
Production
The production companies associated with Malignant movie are New Line Cinema, Starlight Media Inc., My Entertainment Inc., and Atomic Monster Productions. The production is really epic, even Wan himself is the founder of Atomic Monster production company.
Sound Tracks
Music is given by Joseph Bishara. The music and sound are really effective in horror scenes and beautifully integrated with the visual effects. But music is not that much similar to the other horror movies, which means we can feel sadness and darkness in music probably because the movie doesn’t demand that sort of music. Still, all the music and sound effects are amazing and effective to make a horror environment in the movie.
Some people felt that sound effects are not much effective in giving a fearful experience but the brutal murder scenes are amazing. So, the movie is entertaining but not much horrific as compared to the other movies of James Wan (like Conjuring).