Malignant (film)

Malignant is a 2021 American horror thriller film directed by James Wan from a screenplay by Akela Cooper based on an original story by Wan, Ingrid Bisu and Cooper. It stars Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, and Michole Briana White.
== Plot ==
In 1993, Dr. Florence Weaver and her colleagues Victor Fields and John Gregory are treating a psychiatric patient named Gabriel at Simion Research Hospital. Gabriel somehow has acquired special powers like controlling electricity and broadcasting his thoughts via speakers. During one night, he gets violent and kills several staff members of the institution.
Twenty-eight years later, a pregnant woman, Madison Lake, is living in Seattle after enduring two years of miscarriages which has strained her marriage to her husband Derek Mitchell. During an argument, Derek smashes Madison's head against a wall after which she locks herself in the bedroom and falls asleep. Madison later wakes up to find Derek's body after having a dream of a man entering their house and violently killing him. The killer, still being in the house, attacks Madison, rendering her unconscious.
Madison wakes up in the hospital and is informed by her sister, Sydney, that her baby didn't survive. After being interrogated by detectives Kekoa Shaw and Regina Moss, Madison returns home. That same hour, Gabriel kidnaps a woman running the Seattle Underground Tour. Madison sees another dream about Gabriel murdering Weaver.
During their investigation, Shaw and Moss discover a photo of Madison as a child in Weaver's house and learn that she specialized in child reconstructive surgery. Madison and her sister approach the police after watching Gabriel murder Fields. Gabriel contacts Madison, causing her to remember her past. She and her sister visit their mother to learn more. Madison realizes that Gabriel wasn't her imaginary friend but someone real with whom she talked during her childhood. Shaw finds a link between the doctors and Madison, which leads him to discover Gregory's dead body.
The detectives enlist the help of a psychiatrist in hopes of unlocking Madison's memories. She recalls that her real name is Emily May and that Gabriel wanted her to kill her unborn sister. She almost came close to doing it but was able to stop. The police arrest Madison when the kidnapped lady falls from the attic in her home, revealing that Gabriel was living inside her house. It is later revealed that the kidnapped lady is Serena May, Madison's birth mother. Sydney visits the now locked Simion hospital and finds that Gabriel is Emily's twin brother, who lives inside her body as a "teratoma" sharing the same brain as Emily. Weaver operated on Emily to cut out the parasitic tumor and sewed Gabriel back into her brain. He was dormant during her childhood but woke up when Derek smashed her head.
Gabriel kills fellow inmates when provoked inside the lockup and breaks out. Sydney and Shaw intercept him at the hospital where Serena is admitted. Sydney informs Madison that Gabriel is the cause of her miscarriages because he was feeding off her fetuses. Madison wakes up and locks Gabriel back up in her brain and saves her sister.
== Cast ==
* Annabelle Wallis as Madison "Maddie" Lake-Mitchell
* Maddie Hasson as Sydney
* George Young as Kokoa
* Michole Briana White as Regina
* Jacqueline McKenzie as Florence
*Marina Mazepa as Gabriel 
*Jean Louise Kelly as Serena/Jane
*Susanna Thompson as Jeanne
* Jake Abel as Derek
* Ingrid Bisu as Winnie
*Christian Clemenson as Victor
*Zoe Bell as Scorpion
* Mckenna Grace as 6 year old Emily
*Ray Chase as voice version of Gabriel
== Production ==
In July 2019, it was announced that James Wan would direct the film at New Line Cinema from a screenplay by Akela Cooper and J.T. Petty, based on an original story he wrote alongside Ingrid Bisu and serve as a producer alongside Michael Clear under his Atomic Monster banner.
On October 24, 2019, Wan clarified that the film is not based on his graphic novel Malignant Man, stating, "It's definitely not a superhero film. Malignant is an original thriller not based off any existing IP."
In August 2019, Annabelle Wallis, George Young, and Jake Abel were cast in the film. In September 2019, Maddie Hasson, Michole Briana White, and Jacqueline McKenzie joined the cast of the film. Mckenna Grace was added to the cast in March 2020.
Production began on September 24, 2019, and concluded on December 8, 2019.
== Release ==
After being delayed from an August 14, 2020 date, Malignant earned its theatrical release on September 10, 2021, with a simultaneous stream on HBO Max for the next 30 days.
Category:2021 films
Category:2021 in film
Category:2021 American films
Category:2021 horror films
Category:2021 American horror films
Category:2021 thriller films
Category:Warner Bros. Pictures films
Category:Warner Bros. films
Category:New Line Cinema films
Category:Atomic Monster Productions films
Category:Films
Category:American films
Category:Thriller films
Category:Horror films
Category:Horror thriller films
Category:Films based on true stories
Category:Films directed by James Wan
Category:English-language films