[SPOILERS AHEAD]
No one really likes to admit when they’re wrong, but sometimes you just need to hold your hands up.
When I first caught the trailer for Malignant, I almost immediately filed it away as another lazy, Hollywood horror with excessive jump scares and very little depth. Whilst James Wan has worked on a number of features I do like, I’m not a big fan of the Conjuring films and Malignant seemed to be very much in the same vein.
So I must say I was surprised when I started noticing a distinct hype building online, with some wildly divisive opinions when the feature released. Happy to give anything a go, and very encouraged by the mention of a synthwave Pixies cover, I finally caught it at the cinema – going in with very little knowledge or expectation.
Admittedly, very early on, I could empathise with some of the criticism. Straight away – the dialogue is very cheesy. To the extent that in the opening scenes I was genuinely wondering if there would be an imminent reveal of some kind of parody film within a film, in the way that Stab was like Scream turned to 11. With no grand reveal, things progress similarly – with the audience audibly sniggering at some moments that were seemingly not intentionally amusing. It shouldn’t work. And for many, it didn’t. But for me, this odd lean towards the cliché didn’t feel like lazy writing, instead – I got the distinct impression that this was an intentional direction that the film was acutely aware of.
Malignant manages to roll out a whole host of horror tropes, leaning wholeheartedly into the ironic absurdity in a way that felt like a loving homage to the genre. Where indie filmmakers will utilise tricks to mask their limited budget, Malignant felt like an expensive production actively seeking to come across as a b-movie. Things felt deliberately unreal in a way that shouldn’t work, but does (with leading lady Annabelle Wallis’ wig in particular never feeling wholly convincing).
The story follows Madison Lake, a young expectant mother and victim of domestic abuse. After a violent incident, Madison’s home is invaded by a shadowy assailant who brutally murders her husband, hurting Madison in the process and causing her to lose her baby. As Madison tries to come to terms with her grief, she begins to have violent visions of murders committed by the assailant and begins to suspect he has links to her forgotten past.
From the troubled female protagonist to the handsome, hopeful cop – the characters fit perfectly into their stereotypical roles. Wallis spends the majority of the film with a wide eyed, haunted expression in a likely intentional nod to the expressive scream queens of the past. It does often feel like the cast are deliberately over acting, but Wallis must be praised for her ability to completely transform herself as I had no idea it was her until some post film googling had me in disbelief.
Malignant feels distinctly like a love letter to retro horror, with the deep red and blue lighting complimented by the fantastic synth score. The result is a campy gem that feels like it has been unearthed from a time capsule hidden in the 80s.
Where things initially progress slowly, as the film nears its final third things take a sharp twist into pure batshit territory. Some have expressed incredulity that such an off the wall film has had such a mainstream release, and as the audience experiences the insanity of the revelations, it feels so incredibly niche that I can completely echo this sentiment.
Gabriel, the murderer whom Madison has been experiencing visions of, is revealed to be her parasitic twin – awoken after a period of dormancy by the violent event at the beginning of the film. Learning to take control of Madison’s body and temporarily putting her in a kind of fugue state, Gabriel seeks retribution against the doctors who tried to surgically remove him from Madison as a child.
It is such a bizarre reveal that nods to some classic body horror, with the eccentric FX contrasting with what until this point felt like a creepy, supernatural feature, much like Insidious. The story itself is inspired by the legend of 19th century Edward Mordake, who was said to have a face on the back of his head that would whisper horrific things, driving Mordake to attempt suicide.
As absurd and out there as the premise is, Malignant felt to me to have a more serious undertone – with Madisons desperate attempts to free herself from the control of Gabriel paralleling the struggles of escaping domestic abuse.
Gabriels domination over Madison directs her behaviour and it doesn’t feel incidental that he is awoken by an injury Madison sustains at the hands of her violent partner. We learn that since childhood Gabriel has tried to isolate Madison, driving a wedge between her and her parents and enticing her to harm her baby sister, in an indisputable analogy for the experience of many living with domestic abuse. When Madison tries to seek support, she comes across as hysterical and delusional, leading her to question her own reality. With victims of domestic violence feeling as though they have no autonomy over their lives, this is literally the case for Madison as Gabriel inhabits her to enact his will – gaining strength by feeding from Madison and her previous failed pregnancies as he tries to take her over completely. Despite attempts to literally cut Gabriel from Madison, a part of him will always remain with her. She learns to live with him as part of her – having finally gained the strength to fight back.
I can see why Malignant has divided opinion. For many, it’s simply too bonkers to get on board with. However what are criticisms for some actually act as positives for others, and I found that once I relaxed into the silliness, I actually enjoyed how over the top and unbelievable everything felt. It definitely seemed a very deliberate choice and I can’t say I’ve seen much that similarly delivers such unapologetic, tongue in cheek self awareness.
Malignant is definitely not even remotely what I was expecting and I’m actually pretty impressed that the studio managed to keep so much of the madness back within the promo material. In a time where it often feels that trailers ruin all of the big moments, this was the polar opposite – and love it or hate it, it’s definitely one to watch.
