An Average Movie-Goer’s Review
Spoilers! If you don’t want spoilers – check out the Spoiler-Free post
We love horror movies and if we’re going to watch them anyway, why not write an entertaining/funny review from the POV of an average movie-goer and not a professional critic.
Today we’re looking at Netflix’s 2018 Malevolent
Based on Eva Konstantopoulos’ novel Hush, a group of fake paranormal hunters get more than they bargained for when they take a job at an actual haunted estate.
Is it Scary?
Malevolent leans more towards creepy suspense with lots of tension building scenes so I wouldn’t say it’s that scary but it’s definitely a good movie to give you a few good scares.
Detailed Plot:
The film opens with a quote “None of the dead come back. But some stay.” -St. John the Divine, which means…. Ghosts!
We meet our main character, Angela Sayers (played by Florence Pugh), and her supporting characters, her brother Jackson (played by Ben Lloyd-Hughes), his girlfriend Beth (played by Georgina Bevan) and Elliot (played by Scott Chambers). The group pack a bunch of equipment into a van and drive off to what is implied to be a job.
A title pops up telling us the films takes place in Glasgow 1986.
The group arrive at the home of a widower, Frank, and his young daughter, Susie. We find out the group are actually paranormal investigators who specialize in finding and getting rid of ghosts from people’s houses. It turns out Angela has a special gift that allows her to feel and communicate with spirits.
Elliot and Beth set up cameras around the basement, where Frank believes the spirit of his wife, Maddy, is. Meanwhile Jackson and Angela interview Frank to get more information on Maddy. We find out that Angela and Jackson lost their mother almost five years ago but we don’t know why yet.
We’re also are clued in that the entire thing is a scam and Angela doesn’t really have a gift when, in private, Jackson tells Angela to really “sell it”. Angela heads down to the basement with Elliot behind her carrying a camera. There, they enter a room full of mannequins which is not as creepy as it sounds since Maddy was a seamstress.
Angela calls out to Maddy and asks her to leave the house so the family could move on. At that moment Jackson signals to Beth who signals Elliot who turns on a tape player with pre-recorded voices calling out to Frank and Susie.
Through the cameras Frank hears this and believes it’s Maddy. The pre-recorded message then says “goodbye” causing Jackson to tell Frank that was Maddy leaving the home. Frank, virtually in tears, agrees. Jackson tells him to pay Beth, while he checks on Angela as her “gift” takes a toll on her.
Back in the basement, Angela hears a sound coming from the direction of the mannequins, one moves causing Angela to do a double-take but it’s back to normal when she looks again. She stares an awfully long time at the mannequins and, in a jump scare, one lunges at her causing Angela to fall back.
We then see the title card.
The mannequins are back to normal but Angela is on the ground with a nosebleed as Elliot helps her up. The team go out that night to party their successful scam where Beth presents them with a new flyer for the business based off Jackson’s requests.
We learn Angela and Jackson’s mom had a gift to speak with the dead and Jackson wants to keep using that information as a way to promote Angela’s “gift”. Elliot questions why they are using that angle since Angela no longer wants to but Jackson insist it will help their business grow.
Elliot tells him although he’s only helping them for the filmmaking experience, he still thinks it’s bullshit. While they argue Angela calls Jackson an asshole and leaves. Elliot, who appears to have a thing for Angela follows after her.
Outside Angela tells Elliot he should have warned her about the new trick, believing the moving mannequin was part of the show. Elliot claims he has no idea what she’s talking about and Angela drops the subject.
Later that night, back home, Angela goes through personal objects from her mom and we find out Angela had to be admitted to a Psychiatric hospital in the United States after her mother’s death.
The following morning Angela gets a call from a woman seeking help to get rid of ghosts, she tells her she hears the screams of children and can’t get them to stop. Angela immediately nopes out of the situation and tells her they’re not available.
We also see a quick scene of Jackson trying to hype himself up by listening to a self-help tape and then swallowing some kind of pill.
Later, Angela is at university when she’s called into the office of the Head of Psychiatry. She asks Angela if she is actually serious about the program as she has missed multiple classes and has seen the paper of her supposed “supernatural” abilities.
Angela tells her she is serious and will do extra work if necessary but then starts getting interrupted by a disembodied voice whispering her name. She sees there is now blood on the nearby door and it opens to a man who has blood all over his hands.
The head of psychiatry doesn’t see or hear any of it and doesn’t think anything is off until Angela’s nose starts to bleed.
Angela leaves and goes to visit her grandfather and they discuss her mom. We find out Angela’s mom, Christine, at some point in the past left for the United States without telling anyone and started a ghost hunting business there.
After a few drinks, her grandfather rants about Christine and we learn Christine was hearing voices, saying she could see ghosts, and having nosebleeds. We also learn her ability led her to have a breakdown and kill herself.
We see a quick scene of Jackson meeting with some not-so friendly looking people who he might owe money to since they beat the shit out of him without saying a word.
Back at home, the woman from earlier calls again but this time Jackson is home and accepts the job. When Angela gets home, he attempts to convince Angela to go through with it but she refuses. The two argue about their mom and Jackson’s life choices which is fair, since his face looks like someone needed a punching bag.
We find out their mother scratched her own eyes out before killing herself. Angela curses him out and attempts to walk away but before she leaves, Jackson begs her for help as he needs the money and tells her they are going to kill him. We don’t find out who “they” are but we can assume loan sharks.
That night, Angela wakes up to someone calling her name and goes to investigate it. In the kitchen she sees the ghost of her mother who simply says “I can’t find your brother.”
It’s revealed it was just a dream but the following morning she tells Jackson she’s in, and the group head to the an estate far out in the country. We learn the estate used to be a foster home until the owner’s son killed several of the little girls there and propped up there bodies in one of the buildings.
The group meet the owner, Mrs. Greene and she tells them it’s been 15 years since her son, Herman, killed the girls. Since then she’s been hearing laughter and giggles in the home until they eventually turned to angry screaming.
While the rest of the group set up, Angela hears some humming and sees a little girl walk by and down a hall causing her to get another nosebleed.
In the bathroom, a shadow passes behind Angela causing her to jump but then Elliot pops up in a jump scare to check up on her. Angela then hears a sound coming from one of the stalls that Elliot appears not to hear.
Angela checks each of the stalls with Elliot close behind until she hears giggles and a child runs by. She grabs Elliot and hides in the bathroom stall but then turns to see the ghost of a little girl with her mouth sewn shut in there with them. The sight causes her to pass out.
When she wakes up Elliot tries to convince Jackson to call off the whole thing but since Angela weakly claims she’s alright, Jackson thinks they should all continue on.
A little while later, the group is all set up and begin their “ghost hunt”. Jackson and Beth watch the camera with Mrs. Greene while Elliot follows Angela with a camera.
Elliot and Angela enter one of the bedrooms and Angela begins to hear music playing nearby. When she asks Elliot if he can hear it, we see from the POV of the camera that there is no music playing. After finding a doll with its mouth sewn shut, Angela hears giggling coming from a nearby room and leaves.
This causes Jackson to radio Elliot asking what is going on as they are diverting from the plan. The two enter a hallway and Angela sees the ghost of a young girl she identifies as Tammy, one of the girls Herman killed. We once again see from the POV of the camera that Angela is the only one who can see the ghost.
Angela follows Tammy down the hall and into the East wing of the mansion, somewhere Mrs. Greene asked them to stay away from earlier. Jackson attempts to get them on the radio but all that comes through is static.
Down one of the hallways, the floor gives way and Elliot falls through the floor badly injuring his leg. Jackson refuses to call an ambulance as that would mean the ghost hunt is over and no money. He instead gets ladder and rope from Mrs. Greene and use it to get down to Elliot.
They discover the room Elliot fell into is the room where Herman practiced sewing dolls mouths shut and where he kept the girls once he kidnapped them.
They then find a drawing of a girls face with her mouth sewn shut on a wall and Angela tries to tell Jackson what she’s been seeing. Jackson refuses to believe the place is haunted despite Elliot agreeing with Angela.
Angela and Jackson then help Elliot out of the hole with Jackson stating they have to finish the job. Angela refuses causing the two to argue with Angela wanting to quit the scamming life. While they argue we hear voices calling out to Angela but also now calling out to Jackson.
Jackson goes to Mrs. Greene and tells her they’ve had a bit of a hiccup but will get back to the job. Mrs. Greene tells him to shut it as she now believes the whole thing is a scam. She insinuates she had a hand in the murders of the girls as she calls them monsters who wouldn’t stay quiet when they were alive.
Shocked, Jackson calls Beth and Angela on the radio and tells them to pack up so they can leave. He rushes down to where their equipment was set up to find it all smashed to pieces and Beth missing. Turning around he finally sees the ghost of one of the girls.
Jackson stumbles back as the ghost disappears. He gets a call from Angela over the radio telling him to hurry back to help carry Elliot down the stairs. After they bring Elliot down a flight, Angela spots Beth’s necklace in a small pool of blood.
Her and Jackson see a girl standing in an elevator that leads to the top floor and Jackson elects to go up on his own, telling Angela to get Elliot out of the house. In the elevator Jackson sees the ghost of his mother and almost as if he is trying to convince himself he’s only seeing things, he takes another pill.
On the top floor, Jackson finds the entrance to the attic and finds Beth tied up with her mouth sewn shut.
Angela is able to get Elliot to the car just as Jackson arrives with Beth. The four then speed off down towards the exit of the estate. Jackson sees the ghost of child standing in the middle of the road and he chooses to speed up to ram it.
It turns out the ghost was actually the gardener who dies immediately after being hit but the hit also causes Jackson to lose control and crash. The crash causes head trauma to Angela, Elliot, and Jackson but has also thrown Beth through the windshield killing her.
Jackson leaves the car and grabs Beth’s lifeless body but is hit from behind by someone with a shovel. The man then goes to the car and drags Elliot out, hitting him with the shovel knocking him out.
Angela wakes up, finds Beth’s body and Jackson nowhere around. She then finds Elliot and wakes him up asking where Jackson is. Elliot tells her “he” took him and points to the house.
Back in the house Jackson is tied up and the man who took him is revealed to be Herman. Mrs. Greene appears and tells Jackson she’s sorry for Beth but she couldn’t risk the police coming to her estate again.
Which doesn’t really make sense since she didn’t kill Beth and she couldn’t have known Jackson was going to ram into a ghost child that was actually the gardener… right?
Mrs. Greene reveals she tortured the girls just as her mother had done to her since she feels it was the proper way to raise children. It appears that although Herman did kidnap and kill Claire all those years ago the real mass murderer was Mrs. Greene and her son was just an accomplice. She killed and sewed the mouth shut of all the girls in order to keep them quiet about Claire’s disappearance.
After Mrs. Greene tells Jackson all of this she uses shears to cut his tongue off, uses a hammer to knock out all of his teeth, then sews his mouth shut.
Outside Elliot has woken up and crawls to a gardener’s cane, since he’s dead he won’t be using it anymore. Meanwhile Angela has arrived at the house and has been following ghosts that she believes will lead her to her brother. She’s then attacked and knocked out by Herman.
Angela wakes up tied up next to Jackson who gives her a “my bad” look which is an extreme understatement on his part. The two see the ghosts of three girls watching them from across the room. Mrs. Greene tells Herman to take Jackson to the shed and bring back Elliot for his “processing”.
A short while later, Elliot arrives at the room and demands Mrs. Greene release Angela. Herman attacks but Elliot hits him with the cane and then stabs him in the neck with what appears to be a piece of metal from the car.
Mrs. Greene rushes to dying Herman as Elliot starts to untie Angela but is then attacked from behind by Mrs. Greene. Using a handsaw she strikes Elliot several time on his leg and back.
Unable to break free from the restraints, Angela begs the ghost girls to help. At first they watch and do nothing but just as Mrs. Greene is going to kill Elliot they finally start to scream.
The screams distract Mrs. Greene long enough for Angela to break free and stab her in the neck, killing her instantly. The ghosts of the girls then disappear. Angela tells Elliot she is going to go get help and leaves him alone.
She leaves the house and starts walking down the road, in front of her Jackson appears walking down the road as well but he’s uninjured and looking for Beth, telling us he’s now a ghost and was killed when Herman brought him to the shed.
Angela breaks down at the revelation and starts to cry. We then see a car pull up and two passengers exit and run towards her as the screen fades to black.
Some time later Angela is in the hospital and with Elliot. She’s then seen on the phone with her grandfather and he tells her he’s going over as she can’t be alone. A shadow steps in front of Angela as she tells her grandfather she’s not alone and the film ends.
What Happened in the End?
In the end it’s not clear if the shadow is someone or a ghost but the movie is about Angela’s struggle to come to grips with her new gifts. We’ve seen what happens to someone who can’t come to grip with them since Angela’s mom killed herself when she couldn’t.
Since Angela tells her grandfather she’s not alone it seems more likely the movie is telling the audience she has come to terms with her gifts and it’s now a part of her instead of something she runs from or fears.
Review:
Malevolent is a good movie, not just a good horror movie. There’s a lot of work done to build Jackson and Angela’s relationship since they’re related but in a slight negative, there isn’t a lot of character development for the rest of the characters.
I think Beth had really only one scene with Jackson and the rest of the movie she was quiet and just there. Scott Chambers as Elliot was a good actor but all we know about him is he has a crush on Angela and wants to be a filmmaker, he’s the hero in the end and he was just there for most of the movie.
In another slight negative, Jackson’s drug plot line is dropped in the last half of the movie. Him getting beat up was also kind of a driving force for them to be at the house so it kind of makes sense why it’s dropped by the end, also he dies so eh. Though it does feels like it didn’t necessarily have to be in the movie.
The story is pretty straightforward and there really isn’t any questions left open at the end which is usually a plus when the movie overall is not meant to be a thinker. There’s nothing worse than a movie that is straightforward but then throws in some wtf moments in the last ten minutes for no reason.
Speaking of the end, the Mrs. Greene being evil and Herman being alive twist was not that surprising especially since there wasn’t a lot of work done to make us believe otherwise. Still a good twist just not mind-blowing. The ending also gets a bit body torture-y but it doesn’t get to “Saw” levels since we cutaway from the cutting of tongues and removing of teeth.
If you’re looking for a pretty good movie that isn’t too scary but entertaining, Malevolent wouldn’t be a bad choice.
Cast IMBD