Malignant is a 2021 American horror film directed by James Wan from a screenplay by Akela Cooper, based on a story by Wan, Ingrid Bisu, and Cooper. The film stars Annabelle Wallis as a woman who begins to have visions of people being murdered, only to realize the events are happening in real life.
Plot[]
In 1993, Dr. Florence Weaver and her colleagues Victor Fields and John Gregory treat a violent, disturbed patient named Gabriel at Simion Research Hospital who is able to control electricity and broadcast his thoughts via speakers. After Gabriel kills several staff members, Dr. Weaver determines that he is a lost cause and the "cancer" must be removed.
27 years later, Madison Lake-Mitchell, a pregnant woman living in Seattle, returns home to her abusive husband, Derek. During an argument about her multiple previous miscarriages, Derek smashes Madison's head against a wall, causing her to bleed at the point of impact. After locking herself in her room, she had a nightmare of a person entering their house and killing Derek. To Madison's horror, the killer attacks her shortly after seeing Derek's corpse, knocking her unconscious.
Madison wakes up in a hospital and is informed by her sister, Sydney, that her unborn baby did not survive the attack. After being interviewed by police detective Kekoa Shaw and his partner Regina Moss, Madison returns home. Madison reveals to Sydney that she was adopted at 8 years old and has no memories of her prior life. The killer kidnaps a woman running a Seattle Underground tour and Madison continues to bleed at the back of her head. She later experiences another vision in which she helplessly watches Dr. Weaver being brutally bludgeoned by the killer.
During their investigation, Shaw and Moss discover a photo of Madison as a child in Weaver's house and learn that Weaver specialized in reconstructive surgery. Madison and Sydney approach the police after the former has a vision of the killer murdering Dr. Fields. The killer then calls Madison, revealing himself as Gabriel.
Madison and Sydney visit their mother and learns that Gabriel was an imaginary friend Madison spoke with during her childhood, but may also be someone she knew before her adoption. Shaw later finds a link between the doctors and Madison hidden on Dr. Weaver's record journals, leading him to discover the murder of Dr. Gregory.
The detectives enlist a psychiatric hypnotherapist to unlock Madison's memories. Madison recalls that her birth name is Emily May and that Gabriel almost led her to kill Sydney in the womb. After Sydney was born, Madison forgot about Gabriel. The kidnapped woman escapes and falls from the attic of Madison's home, revealing that Gabriel was secretly living there. Believing Madison to be the culprit behind the murders, the police arrest her while the woman, revealed to be Madison's biological mother Serena May, is taken to a nearby hospital.
Sydney visits the now-abandoned Simion hospital where Emily was treated and finds that Gabriel is Emily's parasitic twin brother who appeared as a half-formed child facing out of Emily's back. Weaver operated on Emily and was able to remove Gabriel's body except for the brain which he seals inside Emily's cranium. He remained dormant until Derek hit her head against the wall. Gabriel actually operates Madison's body backwards when he takes control, explaining his unnatural movements and the upside-down handprints at his crime scenes.
Provoked by fellow inmates in the lockup, Gabriel bursts out of Madison's skull and takes control of her body once more, slaughtering the inmates and almost the entire precinct staff before going to the hospital where Serena is recovering from her captivity. Sydney and Shaw intercept but are attacked by Gabriel. Sydney informs Madison that Gabriel caused her miscarriages because he was feeding on her fetuses to gain strength. As Gabriel attempts to kill Sydney for replacing him in Madison's life, Madison wakes up and takes back control of her body. In a black mindscape, she subconsciously locks an enraged Gabriel behind bars and says she will be ready after he promises to escape one day. With his influence gone, Gabriel sinks back inside her head.
Back in the hospital Madison lifts a hospital bed pinning Sydney and remarks that even though they are not related by blood, she will always love her as a sister. Serena looks on happily, while the electric humming that accompanied Gabriel's attacks can be heard faintly.
Cast[]
- Annabelle Wallis as Madison Mitchell
- Mckenna Grace as young Madison
- Maddie Hasson as Sydney Lake
- George Young as Kekoa Shaw
- Michole Briana White as Regina Moss
- Jean Louisa Kelly as Jane Doe / Serena
- Madison Wolfe as young Serena
- Susanna Thompson as Jeanne Lake
- Jake Abel as Derek Mitchell
- Jacqueline McKenzie as Dr. Florence Weaver
- Christian Clemenson as Dr. Victor Fields
- Amir Aboulela as Dr. Gregory
- Ingrid Bisu as CST Winnie
- Ruben Pla as Officer Rubin
- Josh Rutgers as the referee
- Jon Lee Brody as Officer Lee
- Dan Ramos as Basco
- Paula Marshall as Beverly
- Zoë Bell as Scorpion
- Ray Chase as Gabriel (voice)
- Marina Mazepa as Gabriel (physical performer)
- Andy Bean as Frank
- Patricia Velásquez as Nurse Velasquez