The film is centered on a group of scamming paranormal investigators who (shockingly) end up in a real haunted house. At 88 minutes it’s certainly short enough. And while it starts fast, it flounders to a sloppy and rushed conclusion.
‘None of the dead come back. But some stay.’
The quote from St. John the Divine opens the film and sets the stage for what’s to ensue.
The Sayers siblings front a foursome of investigators that are nothing more than fraudsters. Angela (Florence Pugh) claims to have inherited the gift of speaking with the dead from her late mother. Jackson (Ben Lloyd-Hughes) initiates the scams and is only concerned with money.
Florence Pugh rules
I first saw Florence Pugh in “Midsommar” and once again she’s quite impressive. Pugh can channel her inner emotions to convey anything from manically depressed to maniacally terrified. An early scene depicts her conversing with her grandfather and her skills are on full display thenceforth. Pugh has a knack for horror and one can only hope she continues on this path.
Ben Lloyd-Hughes is fine. Scott Chambers and Georgina Bevan fill out the paranormal team. Celia Imrie plays the ominous Mrs. Greene who hires them. The rest of the cast is ancillary to Pugh.
It’s a standard haunted house type story. Set in a remote mansion in 1986 Glasgow, it looks the part. There’s an engaging score that accompanies throughout. The story itself is what tripped me up.
Angela is a con artists but immediately begins suffering the same afflictions as her mother. A bloody nose, hearing and seeing things. It’s not explained why this happened all of a sudden. The movie dives right in. There was a great jump scare that got me in the opening scenes and then nada for the rest of the movie. The final twenty minutes flash by and make little sense.
As we celebrate October in April, “Malevolent” is okay. It isn’t bad but doesn’t stand out.
“Malevolent” can be streamed on Netflix
