Malevolent
Director: Olaf de Fleur Johannesson
Writer: Ben Ketai, Eva Konstantopoulos
Based on: Konstantopoulos’ novel Hush
Cast: Florence Pugh, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Scott Chambers, Georgina Bevan, Stephen McCole, Celia Imrie, James Cosmo
Seen on: 18.5.2023

Content Note: child abuse

Plot:
Angela (Florence Pugh), her brother Jackson (Ben Lloyd-Hughes) and their friends Elliot (Scott Chambers) and Beth (Georgina Bevan) have found a good niche for themselves, scamming people who think their houses are haunted. They pretend to rid those houses of the ghosts and everybody leaves happy. When they get called to a foster home with a dark past by Mrs Green (Celia Imrie), they think that they have hit the jackpot. But Angela actually starts seeing things and there is obviously more to the story than they thought at first.

Malevolent is an okay horror movie that gets elevated, as most things, by Pugh’s performance, even as it kind of falls apart in the last third. It’s pretty watchable, but it’s not a must-see.

I liked the set-up for Malevolent much more than its pay-off. As long as the film stays a ghost story, it’s effective, albeit not great, mostly thanks to Pughs magnetic performance. She is simply amazing, but in 2023 this is barely a surprise anymore – at the time when the film was made, it was probably more of a surprise as she just wasn’t that well-known yet. Imrie appeared to have fun with her perfomance as well.

Anyhow, Angela and Jackson were an interesting duo at the heart of the film and I liked their sibling dynamic that makes even Jackson likeable. I generally liked the characters and the way they interacted. It gives the film a good basis to work from and actually establish a sense of risk because we fear for the characters.

Unfortunately, the film is not content with staying a ghost story and turns to a gorier in the last part. That shift just doesn’t work that well and also doesn’t make a whole lot of sense if you ask me. With that shift, the film loses a lot of momentum and good-will, ending more on a whimper than a bang which feels a bit like a squandered opportunity.

Still, there is enough here that makes the film a good watch if you’re looking for a bit of horror, even if it probably won’t ascend to any hall of fame or personal favorites lists. And, I mean, there is always worse than watching Pugh for 90 minutes.

Summarizing: you could do worse than watch this.