Malignant
Rent/Purchase
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 with a mysterious tie to her past.
What critics thought
James Wan's gonzo horror film split critics almost entirely on a single question: is the escalating absurdity a feature or a bug? Those who embraced it found a deliriously committed, go-for-broke genre exercise; those who didn't found an unintentionally funny slog that takes itself far too seriously for how ridiculous it becomes. The film's polarizing twist is the hinge — it either redeems everything before it or makes the patience required to reach it feel wasted.
“It's hard to say whether a film this bonkers 'works' or not, but it's impossible not to admire both the craft and the extravagant bad taste behind its go-for-broke energy.”
Andrew Barker·Variety
“a zany psychodramatic creepfest that, here and there, veers into gory action hilarity, as though Pazuzu had taken over the body of a Batman movie”
The A.V. Club
“around the midway point... the script shifts gears into an agreeable register of B-movie lunacy, but it takes too much of the nearly two-hour run time to get there”
Charles Bramesco·The Guardian
“The film might have been outrageously bizarre fun if it displayed any humor or ironic self-consciousness, but everything is played so straight that viewers will find themselves laughing not with the film, but at it.”
Frank Scheck·The Hollywood Reporter
“a horror movie that is as long as it is underwhelming.”
Simon Abrams·RogerEbert.com
Genres
Horror, Mystery
Cast & Crew
DirectorJames Wan
StarringAnnabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, Michole Briana White, Susanna Thompson
ComposerJoseph Bishara
Malignant
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 with a mysterious tie to her past.
What critics thought
James Wan's gonzo horror film split critics almost entirely on a single question: is the escalating absurdity a feature or a bug? Those who embraced it found a deliriously committed, go-for-broke genre exercise; those who didn't found an unintentionally funny slog that takes itself far too seriously for how ridiculous it becomes. The film's polarizing twist is the hinge — it either redeems everything before it or makes the patience required to reach it feel wasted.
“It's hard to say whether a film this bonkers 'works' or not, but it's impossible not to admire both the craft and the extravagant bad taste behind its go-for-broke energy.”
Andrew Barker·Variety
“a zany psychodramatic creepfest that, here and there, veers into gory action hilarity, as though Pazuzu had taken over the body of a Batman movie”
The A.V. Club
“around the midway point... the script shifts gears into an agreeable register of B-movie lunacy, but it takes too much of the nearly two-hour run time to get there”
Charles Bramesco·The Guardian
“The film might have been outrageously bizarre fun if it displayed any humor or ironic self-consciousness, but everything is played so straight that viewers will find themselves laughing not with the film, but at it.”
Frank Scheck·The Hollywood Reporter
“a horror movie that is as long as it is underwhelming.”
Simon Abrams·RogerEbert.com
Genres
Horror, Mystery
Cast & Crew
DirectorJames Wan
StarringAnnabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, Michole Briana White, Susanna Thompson
ComposerJoseph Bishara
Rent/Purchase