Movie Review: Malignant
I've been looking into the notable horror movies in the past few years and I've come across some sites that recommend this 2021 movie called Malignant. I know this movie became popular back then as I am somewhat familiar with the poster art. But going into watching it, I haven't really had the slightest idea of what the plot is all about, just the vague definition of Malignant.
The movie starts with a really cool opening scene of a chaotic medical facility with the staff being brutalized by an undisclosed entity, which I'm assuming is the main antagonist. I mean it's a really cliche scene that's been done countless times in horror movies, but when I got a short glimpse of the monster, I was excited because it's got a 80s inspired style going on, which I'm really a fan of.
After that, we get introduced to the protagonist, Madison, who got into an argument with her husband who got too physical with her. She ended up bumping the back of her head to the wall, resulting to a bleeding, which at the time I didn't know was a key moment in the story. The scene progresses and the husband then becomes the victim of an unknown entity and meets a horrifying end.
The movie then centers into Madison having visions of the entity murdering people from the medical facility in the opening scene. This gave me the idea that the monster might have been her twin brother and they are somehow linked telepathically.
Spoiler Alert, the entity was indeed her twin, but it was actually living inside her, just in the back of her head. The visions were from the entity taking over her body and committing the murders. Now I would say it is a novel idea if not for the fact that a Filipino soap opera aired in 2019 called Kara Mia.
Yes, Filipino shows can sometimes have crazy plots. And what's more bizarre is that apparently this is a true medical condition called Diprosopus or craniofacial duplication.
Anyway, I would say that really, really liked Malignant. It's not overly scary and serious like Insidious. Instead, it's more of a campy type of suspense film. You can really tell that they were paying homage to the 80s horror films.
Storywise, it got me confused at first with Madison getting visions and how it connects to the murders. I've been constantly guessing in my head how the ending reveal would pan out. And I must say I was surprised and wasn't expecting that kind of 'Malignant' being. The final act got real crazy real quick, and I love evcry moment of it. I also personally think they handled the reveal seamlessly and answered all the viewers' questions.
Malignant is a fun thriller for me. I'd give it 7 out of 10.
