Malignant

Starring: Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, Michole Briana White, Jake Abel, Jacqueline McKenzie

Director: James Wan

Madison (Wallis) is expecting a child with her abusive husband Derek (Abel). After a tragic event, Madison finds herself haunted by a series of horrific and haunting visions. With the help of her sister Sydney (Hasson), she begins to investigate her visions and realizes she is witnessing real life murders. After she becomes the focal point of the investigations by detectives Shaw (Young) and Moss (White), Madison discovers she has a sinister connection to the murderer and her past may be coming back to haunt her.

James Wan makes a welcome return to the genre where he made his name and masterminded several successful franchises (Saw, Insidious, and The Conjuring). While those films mostly relied on subtlety and a "tell, don't show" attitude, Wan runs wild here. This is a much more violent and graphic film than many might be expecting, His experience directing set pieces in films like Furious 7 and Aquaman have served him well here though, especially late in the film where there is a bloody escape scene set in a police station.

Let's get something out of the way. This movie is incredibly dumb. And incredibly bonkers. While that doesn't take away from some of the bloody horror on display, this film feels more connected to Dead Silence than any of the other horror entries Wan has directed. To me, that's not necessarily a negative as I am one of the few that enjoyed that "so bad it's good" film. The story takes some heavy influence from Italian Giallo films and I was drawn into the mystery that Wan and his writers Ingrid Bisu and Akela Cooper created, however ridiculous it is.

I got genre whiplash watching this movie. It doesn’t know whether it wants to be a haunted house movie, a slasher film, a murder mystery, or at some times even a comedy.

A lot of what happens hinges on Annabelle Wallis in the lead. She makes for a very sympathetic character (abusive relationship and several miscarriages) and she keeps the film anchored as she tries to figure out why she is being haunted by these visions. The detectives here are better than in most films, thanks to the performances of George Young and Michole Briana White. They never outright disbelieve Madison but also don't trust her. It makes for a very interesting dynamic.

Do yourself a favor and avoid spoilers for this movie. I won't go into too much detail here but half of the fun is in its reveals and there is a doozy in this one. It all makes sense (in the way it can only make sense in movies like this) and half the fun is seeing how everything will connect.

I know this won't be for everyone. The first couple minutes are rough to get through and like I said, the story is very silly. But if you can allow yourself to be drawn into what Wan is putting on screen, you might find yourself having more fun than expected.

Grade: B-

Malignant is available in theaters and on HBOMax.