MALIGNANT: It Grows on You

Spoiler warning: From this moment forward, there will be spoilers and spoiler-adjacent puns/content. 

[CW/TW: domestic violence, miscarriage]

Lest the title of this piece (and my inability to leave a pun untouched) lead you to think otherwise, I loved Malignant from the first viewing. It’s a high camp, melodramatic masterpiece, paying homage to James Wan’s earlier works like Dead Silence but with a new, matured self-awareness. It was the perfect combo of Henenlotter’s absurdity, Williamson’s dramatic writing (minus the meta), and late 90s/early 00s nu metal horror a la Thirt13en Ghosts, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, and Queen of the Damned. 

As we all know, with few notable exceptions, the quality of movies are subjective, and that’s why we love talking about them. The amount I hate a movie vs the amount you love a movie doesn’t affect the quality of the film. Ain’t it grand? In the case of Malignant, I did let this mentality briefly slip away because I was shocked by how polarizing this film was. For me, it was a no-brainer (or in this case, two-brainer) - this was a good movie. However, I more than respect those who didn’t like it. But, for the record, I will be writing this from the perspective of someone who thoroughly enjoyed it and has watched it four times since it was released. 

I have one final note before we begin. There are so many wonderful things I love about this movie, but I won’t be able to cover them all (this isn’t my opus about Inside). Without further ado, let’s split apart the high camp, gory story of Malignant.  

James Wan doesn’t waste a minute in Malignant. The film starts with an opening credit sequence, complete with VHS static, as though you’re popping a recorded horror movie into your VCR. It also signifies from the very beginning our antagonist, Gabriel, is with us as his presence is made known by electronic interference. We quickly transition into our opening scene - the quintessential external shot of a hospital pulled straight out of a Universal Monster movie or Hammer film set. 

Dr. Florence Weaver (Jacqueline McKenzie) is in the middle of a video debriefing of a patient when she’s hastily interrupted by a staff member letting her know all hell has broken loose with Gabriel, aka “He’s drinking the electricity and controlling our machines.” (Remember this because James Wan gives us breadcrumbs from the second the film rolls). 

Dr. Weaver rushes to his floor where one staff member is violently thrown from his room and another receives a broken arm akin to something you’d see out of Tom Savini in Dawn of the Dead. When Dr. Weaver finally, uh, weaves through all of the carnage, she utters one of the most grindhouse-y horror lines I’ve ever heard: “You’ve been a bad, bad boy, Gabriel.” 

Here’s where we learn two big things about Gabriel: 1) He communicates through electronic devices and 2) He can manipulate all things electrically powered (we’ll come back to this later). A third, bonus thing we learn about Gabriel is his voice is a mix of the fetus from P.T. and the spooky voice from any given Halloween decoration from Target. But I digress. After casually catching up with Gabriel for a second, Dr. Weaver then utters one of the best lines of this entire film: “It’s time to cut out the cancer.” 

At this point, I knew exactly what this movie was, and it obviously did too. I was ready to buckle up just in time for the early 00s opening credits, complete with medical files, x-rays, and a score very reminiscent of Saw. 

We transition into the present day, but the rest of Malignant watches by the way of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina - it seems very unstuck in time. Outside of the occasional cell phone shot, this film very well could have taken place 20 years ago (which is 2002 and YIKES) or today. We see a pregnant Madison Mitchell (Annabelle Wallis) coming home from work. 

[CW/TW: From here on out, there will be mentions of domestic violence/ab*s* and miscarriages] 

She walks into her bedroom to find her husband watching UFC (a fight foreshadowing upcoming events, I might add), and he asks why she’s home early. We find out Madison has had complications with her other pregnancies, and, unfortunately, we also find out her husband is extremely abusive. The two have an argument, which ends with Madison being thrown into the wall so hard that her head actually chips the drywall. She touches the back of her head to find she’s bleeding, and being the POS he is, her husband immediately tries to apologize and leaves to get her ice. Once he leaves, Madison locks him out of their bedroom, and he sleeps on the couch. 

During the night, her husband’s sleep is disrupted by the sound of various appliances within the kitchen randomly turning on (aka Gabriel’s calling card), giving us several misdirects and honestly morbid “will they/won’t they?” moments. Her husband returns to the living room where the TV cuts to several different commercial splices about weaponry *chef’s kiss*, and a couch cushion rises back up after we believe we see a shadowy figure sitting there. Finally, her husband meets his demise by being twisted in the way of something from the Auntie Anne’s menu. Madison discovers the body, is naturally horrified, and begins running through the house to evade the murderer. 

Madison eventually reaches her bedroom, but the door is kicked in, propelling her backwards and rendering her unconscious. George Young’s Detective Kekoa Shaw and Michole Briana White’s Detective Regina Moss arrive at the scene for some exposition and a traditional procedural scene to remind us this is an over-the-top horror movie, before we cut back to Madison. 

When Madison wakes up she finds herself in a hospital bed, and we are introduced to her sister, Maddie Hasson’s Sydney Lake. We’re once again sadly reminded of how many miscarriages Madison has had over the past two years (including the loss of the child from the night before), and we learn Madison’s husband had completely isolated her from her family for several years. After some basic questioning, Madison is released from the hospital and heads home with her sister. That night, in one of the best shots of this entire movie, Madison is chased through her home in an incredibly done overhead tracking shot, mimicking an out of body experience. 

The next morning, Sydney comes to check on Madison. It’s revealed Madison was adopted, and she has little to no memory of her life prior to being adopted by the Lakes (we even get an instrumental version of Pixies’ “Where is My Mind?” for the big reveal). We quickly transition to a Seattle Underground tour where the tour guide is plagued by the same electrical interference we saw with Madison’s late POS husband. She is kidnapped and taken to an attic with an edgy, backlit fan we would expect from a horror movie in the early aughts (I half-expected Billy to ride in on his little bicycle), and we get the same instrumental Pixies’ tune. 

Next up on Gabriel’s never-ending shit list is Dr. Weaver, who he calls on her landline (scary, huh?) and throws back her line about cutting out the cancer. Dr. Weaver pulls out the case file for one Patient May and nervously clutches a photo before night falls, and we return to Madison. 

Madison tries to return to some semblance of normal by doing laundry and listening to the radio (specifically, a song called Your Painted Smile by Bryan Ferry) in her fog-machine surrounded house when she hears screaming from downstairs. The lights begin to flicker, and her head begins to bleed, and…oh yeah…she has a woman of a vision screaming in the window of her dryer. She’s suddenly paralyzed as her surroundings melt around her, and she sees Dr. Weaver savagely beaten to death by the same shadowy figure stalking her. 

Once the sun rises, Madison is able to move, and we cut back to Detectives Moss and Shaw as Dr. Weaver’s body is discovered. In an extremely sad twist of fate, the murder weapon is revealed to be the base of one of her medical accolades, to which Detective Shaw says, “We need to find the other half.” After combing through Dr. Weaver’s files, Detective Moss finds the photograph we saw Dr. Weaver clutching after Gabriel’s phone call, and we learn that Dr. Weaver specialized in childrens’ reconstructive surgery. 

We check back in with Gabriel and his fan in the attic where he sharpens the top of Dr. Weaver’s trophy and decides to get a little target practice in with our tied-up tour guide, purposely missing her face by a hair before going back to Sydney and Madison. Madison is throwing up and recalling her murderous vision to Sydney, who tries to comfort her. Meanwhile, back at the station, Detective Shaw asks a colleague to age up the photo of Patient May for leads. 

Gabriel’s bloodthirst still isn’t satisfied, so Madison is once again dragged into another grotesque vision, this time with the victim being Dr. Fields, another doctor who worked with Dr. Weaver. As daybreak hits, Madison begins screaming, and Sydney rushes in, where the two decide to go to the police station to give statements on Madison’s visions. 

As with every movie ever made, Detective Moss is skeptical, but Detective Shaw is of good faith, so they follow Madison’s tip to Dr. Field’s room where they find his body. Sydney and Madison are taken back to the station where Gabriel calls Madison and proceeds to throw some major shade about Madison’s life and current mental state. Clearly distressed, Madison finds Sydney and the two leave, just as Detective Shaw’s colleague vocalizes how Madison matches his age-progression. 

Sydney and Madison go to visit their mother, who shows the pair a troubling home movie with several instances of Madison speaking to an “imaginary friend.” Gabriel apparently encouraged Madison to, uh, casually try to kill Sydney in utero. Back at the station, Detective Shaw begins watching Dr. Weaver’s video files and finds the connection between her and Dr. Fields, as well as a third and final doctor, Dr. Gregory. 

Detective Shaw rushes to Dr. Gregory’s address, where he uncovers his mutilated corpse, and Madison tries to warn Detective Shaw of Gabriel’s whereabouts. However, Gabriel attacks Detective Shaw - they begin a several-minute long chase through the streets, and, eventually, through underground tunnels with a covered wagon(?). After the gratuitous chase, Detective Shaw visits Madison, and he reveals Madison’s true identity: Emily May. Madison also agrees to undergo hypnotherapy to recall her past. 

During her hypnotherapy session (and yes, it’s Marsha from Euphoria), Madison remembers how Gabriel can seemingly manipulate her reality. For example, in her mind, she believes she’s cutting a slice of birthday cake, but in reality, she awakes to find she’s about to slice into her mother’s pregnant stomach. Madison begins screaming, and the hypnotherapist takes her sweet ass time bringing Madison out of her trance. Madison identifies Gabriel as the killer, and moments later, attic lady frees herself from her binds, and…falls through Madison’s ceiling onto her living room floor. 

Madison is taken into custody, and Detective Moss gives Detective Shaw a big ol’ dose of “I told you so.” In the interrogation room, Detective Moss grills Madison to a distressing point, and all of the lights in the room explode. Gabriel calls Madison’s phone and asks for the detectives. He begins taunting Detective Shaw with lines like “Bitch didn’t even know as I was nesting in her home”, and he prompts Madison to tell them what she used to call him, aka THE DEVIL (clutches pearls). 

Sydney returns to her mother’s home, where she retrieves documents about the Simion Research Hospital and drives up to the abandoned and dilapidated property alone (duh) for answers. (I should also note it’s night-time and storming, and the records room is in the building’s basement). 

We then proceed to switch between Sydney uncovering records, and Madison in a cell with other female prisoners, begging to be released. Sydney brings the tapes back to her mother’s home, and we finally get some answers. It turns out Dr. Weaver and Co lied to Madison’s adoptive parents about her biological mother being alive and about Madison’s past. We also get a delightful line where Madison’s adoptive mother calls the Simion Research Hospital staff “lying cock-knockers”, in the manner of something Kathleen Turner’s character would say in Serial Mom. 

We cut back to the hospital where attic lady’s identity is finally revealed; she’s Serena May, aka Madison’s biological mother. This leads us to the big reveal. 

Now, if you haven’t caught on, Mr. Wan and myself have both been leaving you breadcrumbs throughout this film and piece respectfully. In my humble opinion, even if you saw this coming, the payoff is still 100% worth it. If you didn’t figure out the ending, and you want to watch the movie before I spoil the reveal, stop reading right now. 

**This is your last warning before I spoil this movie, so seriously, stop now if you don’t want to know.**

Okay, so….GABRIEL IS A PARASITIC TWIN LIVING ON MADISON’S BACK WHO SHARED HER BRAIN, AND THEY FINALLY DETATCHED AS MUCH OF HIM AS THEY COULD, BUT THEY HAD TO JUST SHOVE THE LAST REMINENTS OF HIM BACK INTO HER FUCKING SKULL BECAUSE THEY COULDN’T FULLY REMOVE HIM WITHOUT KILLING MADISON. 

Yes, you read it correctly, my friends. Gabriel can control Madison’s mind to make her believe she’s going through normal, everyday tasks, while he takes over her body and stabs, grabs, and jabs whomever he pleases. That’s why she’s been getting these visions; her body is present at the murder scene, but she’s stuck in her own mind. 

I feel giddy might not be the best words to describe my feelings about the scene we’ve finally reached, but it does happen to be my favorite scene of this entire movie. If you’ve ever seen Basket Case and Switchblade Sisters, it’s somehow a successful mix of those. I know how it sounds, but you have to trust me. Madison is being harassed by her fellow cellmates, including Zoe Bell. 

The pressure becomes too much, so…Madison splits the back of her head open, twists all of her limbs around, and finally reveals Gabriel in all of his nasty glory, to which Zoe Bell, asking the question on all of our minds, inquires, “What the fuck?”

Gabriel throws Madison into a “mental prison,” and viciously slaughters each and every one of her cellmates before moving on to a good chunk of the police force. We realize Gabriel was brought forth by Madison’s head injury. 

Sydney rushes to the hospital, calling Detective Shaw along the way to fill him in. Madison watches as Detectives Shaw and Moss are both injured by Gabriel and sees all of the carnage he left behind. Another extremely important thing I want you to remember is that Madison’s face is still attached to this body, so you still see her gd face on the back of her inverted body. Moving on.

Sydney arrives to the hospital around the same time Gabriel shows up and casually explodes a poor man’s pacemaker (boy howdy, I didn’t think I’d write anything close to this today). Gabriel chases Sydney to Serena’s room, where she apologizes to Gabriel for giving him to the hospital. Poor Detective Shaw rushes in, yet again, and is stabbed, yet again. Sydney grabs his gun, but Gabriel throws a hospital bed, pinning her to the wall. 

Sydney begs Madison to regain control, and we find out, *gulps,* he’s been feeding off the lifeforce of Madison’s unborn children, hence why she keeps miscarrying. Gabriel then fatally shoots Sydney and smothers Serena. It’s... a lot. 

But, plot twist! It turns out Madison discovered her own strength, and she tricked Gabriel into thinking he killed both Serena and Sydney while she locked him in his own mind prison. Madison and Gabriel have their final few words, heavily alluding to a sequel, and Gabriel retreats back into Madison’s skull. 

Madison dramatically throws off Gabriel’s trench coat and lifts the hospital bed off Sydney. Don’t ask why she suddenly has super strength. Just roll with horror movie and comic book rules. She tells Sydney she’ll always be her sister, and the side lamp in Serena’s room attempts to flicker. 

Fin. 

Why do I love this movie exactly? Is it the ridiculousness of the fight scenes? Possibly. Is it the use of breadcrumbs like Pixies “Where is My Mind?”, aka the ending song in Fight Club, aka a movie where it’s revealed two people are actually the same person? Maybe. Is it the seemingly pro-choice themes throughout? Probably. But, I think it’s impossible to pinpoint one reason. James Wan decided to breathe new life into the stale good/bad genre. It’s camp, it’s gory, and it’s truly insane, but all of these things combined still produced something incredible. Wan knew exactly where to fill the measuring cup on each. 

Malignant isn’t necessarily something we haven’t seen before, but it’s a refreshing addition to things we’ve seen before. It’s a mashup of nu metal horror, the over-the-top slasher, the twist-based film, but it’s so much more. It lends itself from everything to a beer and pizza movie night with friends to a streaming afternoon matinee with your dogs (which is how I watched it the second time). No matter how you choose to dive in, remember this: Sometimes, two heads are literally better than one.