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James WansMalignantbegins with heavy subject matter, handled with all the grace and elegance of a dump.
(This is a compliment.)
James WansMalignantactuallybegins with a flashback to a spookyShutter Islandish asylum way back in olden times, meaning 1993.
We know this because someone in a lab coat says, He speaks.
Hes broadcasting his thoughts.
The head doctor then faces the camera head-on and says, Its time we cut out the cancer.
Cue the gory, surgical,oh, youre in for it nowtitle credits.
We dont have to wait long until he gets what he deserves.
This stilted line underscores how weird the motivating force behind basically all of human life is.Whoa, man.
Yes, this movie inspires dorm-room stoner thoughts, as any good horror watch should.
This leads to a scene that has not stopped rattling around in my head since I saw it.
Out of context, it seems pulled from a Lifetime movie about suburban scandal.
That tone is a feature, not a bug.
I dont remember anything before then.
Mom told me that my biological mother died during the birth.
The music drops out.
Sydney, Im adopted.
They even deliberately cast two actresses who couldnt look less like biological sisters if they tried.
Its all just so gleefully excessive.
And one of Gabriels victims is introduced as a haunted tour guide.
I appreciate the intentionality behind every decision in this movie, even if it doesnt totally pay off.
Okay, now its spoiler time.
Gabriel is able to take control of Madisons body by placing her in a mind prison.
Madison, he killed your babies!
He was the cause of your miscarriages!
He was feeding off of your fetuses to build himself back up!
Sydney cries in what Id consider theotherbest line in the whole movie.
Yet in the end, it was right in front of me all along.
Blood or not, you will always be my sister.
Thats why they had to make that adoption convo such a big deal.
Its basicallyRuPauls spielabout how you get to choose your family.
Scenes like the Im adopted confession play out like they would in a dream.
Annabelle Wallis and Maddie Hassons performances of Akela Coopers screenplay make emotional sense the way opera makes emotional sense.
And where is my mind?
And … are wealladopted?
