Review of Malignant (2021) by Sophiatoria — 18 Feb 2022

This movie was just pure magical horror. Funny, yes. Fantastical, definitely. The plot was like a breath of fresh air after watching Hollywood pump out factory remake after factory remake. This movie made me remember why I enjoyed going to the movies to watch movies: for the originality and emotional transcendence you feel after an amazing plot twist.

I think the general consensus seems to be that they couldn't take the movie seriously because of the general "silly" atmosphere, however, not only do I disagree--and would argue that the movie is amazing despite the silliness, purely on the fact that the special effects and brutal murder scenes are incredibly well done---but I would argue that the silliness simply adds another layer of greatness to this movie.

[SPOILERS AHEAD] The entire movie, Maddie is in a state of confusion and is slowly losing her sanity because she has no way of knowing what is real and what is not. The silliness and almost comic book style of the movie is completely unexpected for a horror movie, and some would probably go as far as to say that has no place in a horror movie and therefore, Malignant is not a true horror movie.

Do you see where I'm going with this? Regardless of whether or not the bad acting, funny music, the effects for Gabriel, were intentional or not, this movie does an amazinh job of confusing the viewer, forcing you to question every second of the movie, even the movie itself.

Was it intentional? Who is really commiting the crimes? Why is the music's timing so histerical? Am I scared or am I just confused? This confusion perfectly parallels the confusion that Maddie feels througout the movie, and it just makes the horrific plot twist hit SO much harder near the end.

There are SO many other aspects of this movie that I think are great but I thought these were the most pressing to share. If you don't appreciate this movie for its originality and the special effects, then I'm sorry, but I will judge you and assume you are a boring person.