"From James Wan, the director of Saw, Insidious and The Conjuring" comes
Malignant. This horror thriller film directed by James Wan and written by Akela Cooper. Madison is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities.
In July 2019, it was announced that Wan would direct the film at New Line Cinema from a screenplay by Akela Cooper and J.T. Petty, based on an original story he wrote alongside Ingrid Bisu and serve as a producer alongside Michael Clear under his Atomic Monster banner. In September, Wan officially revealed the title as Malignant, with Bloody Disgusting claiming the film would be more in line with a giallo film. By late September, Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, Michole Briana White, Jacqueline McKenzie, Jake Abel, Mckenna Grace and Bisu were cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in early December. Filming took place in Los Angeles, California. Additionally, Wan announced the title of the film would be called Malignant. In late October, Wan clarified that the film is not based on his graphic novel Malignant Man. Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema originally scheduled the film for an August 14, 2020 release date, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film was removed from the release schedule in March 2020. As part of its plans for all of its 2021 films, Warner Bros. will also stream Malignant simultaneously on the HBO Max service for a period of one month, after which the film will be removed until the normal home media release schedule period.
The film stars Wallis, Hasson, Young, White, McKenzie, Abel, Grace and Bisu. It's great seeing the cast, led by Wallis, getting the chance to have fun with their characters, who prove to be a highlight of the film.
The film has a lot of good qualities (the production design, the Gallo-inpired cinematography, great makeup effects), but overall this film has a huge debilitating weakness: it is predictable as f***. Wan has a carnivalesque sense of fun and a sure instinct for recycling classic horror tropes, but their characters are so flat and their plotting so listless that this low-budget feature fails to generate much suspense. There's something quaintly charming about Wan's unabashed affection for their inspirational source material, although the sense of over-familiarity means that none of it is in the least bit scary. The film is not going to reinvent the genre. It's actually a big pile of nonsense, but that doesn't stop it from being fun nonetheless. So if you're in the mood for a Saturday afternoon-ish throwback horror/thriller, you could certainly do a hell of a lot worse than this one. I admit that I did see the daft last-minute twist coming, and sort of admired it, but for the rest you'd need an extravagant love of hokum not to feel mildly bored. It's also a bit shocking that a movie this mediocre is getting an HBO Max release at all. The film more resembles a purely theatrical release.
Simon says Malignant receives:
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