by May Honey, Contributing Writer
After the supposed retirement from horror after The Conjuring 2 and two big budget blockbusters under his belt, James Wan returns to his horror roots, not by treading any familiar ground or playing it safe, but by creating something entirely new. Wan’s completely original film scares spectacularly and constantly surprises with some of the best horror directing I dare say he’s ever done with his new film, Malignant.
Let’s set the scene of my day before watching this, and my relationship to Wan’s films and horror in general, because I feel that’s quite important. To keep it efficient, horror is my absolute favorite genre, and Wan was part of that initial wave many years ago that really helped me fall into it. If it wouldn’t have been Insidious or The Conjuring, it definitely would’ve at least been the first Saw film that really got me hook, line, and sinker. The way he directs his movies with precise editing, inspired music, dynamic camerawork, intricate plotting, and perfectly crafted scares has always appealed to me. That love expanded into the genre that I now look to (ironically) for comfort. The themes that a lot of horror films I love really do resonate with me as well. Some have even been so impactful to me that they’ve helped me through some serious depressive times in my life. I probably wouldn’t be the person I am today without a list of quite a few horror films. So as a moviegoer (for personal, entertainment, and critical reasons) there’s nothing that gets me quite like a great horror film, and needless to say all that meant that I was very excited for his new film.
Before I saw this movie I had one of the worst days I’d had in a long time. Besides having an incredibly rough day at work (one of the worst in the entire four years I’ve worked there), I had a falling out with my best friend. Obviously not to get too personal, but it left me feeling depressed, alienated, and worst of all, completely unenthused. Like I had no will to do anything to move on. So as previously mentioned horror films help me, and I thought I’d give this new Wan film a shot, even if I’d heard mixed things.
I loved it.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but for a little under two hours I actually felt better, and not just better… I felt transfixed. I escaped into a story that grabbed me by my feet and threw me through a gauntlet so riveting and surprising at every turn that I swear Wan went through my brain and picked out things I love seeing in horror and just made all of that into a movie.
There’s an incredible main performance by Annabelle Wallis that drove all the emotion through the story so naturally. Extreme emotions are a staple in horror, which is pretty hard to sell in a way you haven’t seen before. You need an incredible actor in the lead to pull something like that off, like Toni Collette in Hereditary or even Lupita Nyong’o in Us, and Wallis holds up every part of this story with a mastery and subtlety I didn’t expect in this kind of story. The supporting cast is also layered with a great who’s who of actor’s I either vaguely recognize or haven’t seen before that are all killing it. Not a single performance in this falters, and they all add perfectly to Wan’s canvas of carnage.
Speaking of carnage, that’s not quite something Wan does often. He’s known for simmering tension and explosive finales, but only narratively. This time around he has a palpable sense of not just tension and stakes rolling through every scene, but a momentous pace propped up by surprise after surprise. There’s something to be said about a story that feels like it constantly evolves from sequence to sequence, act to act, and scene to scene. Whether emotionally, psychologically, or even just plain story-wise, he never quite went where I expected him to. I’ve seen a few horror films in my day and it’s rare for me to ever say to myself, “I have no idea where this is going!”, and that be a good thing. In this film I did, and that was one of the most important aspects of my experience.
Honestly, I could go into every little aspect of this film and dissect it, but one thing I’m so excited to do with this film is watch it again and find even more details. Growing with a film as I grow as a person is one of my most prized aspects of being a film fan, and this fits the bill swimmingly. It’s safe to say that this one will be an instant buy on the day it comes out on 4K. This film has a lot of incredible aspects and people working on it (and no disrespect to them), but Wan is the real movie star on display here. He created a true symphony for the sickos and the psychos, and exactly the type of horror film that I was looking for on a day where I really needed it, moving me in a way I never expected once the credits rolled. This is why I love film.
So to James Wan, from a fan, thank you.
Grade: A+
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