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Film Probe

Florence Pugh's First Horror Movie, Malevolent (2018) | Review

An intriguing thriller which attempted to shock a lot more than it did in reality. Staring a young Florence Pugh I was expecting big things from this unknown horror movie I randomly came across on Netflix. The overall plot was intriguing to say the least, I was curious about the relationship between brother and sister and mostly wanted answers to their problems but sadly, these questions were left out to dry. We didn’t really get any answers as the narrative was overshadowed by the secondary storyline, once Angela started to discover she is actually a clairvoyant the whole story shifted and became a lot darker than originally expected.


I sensed this film wasn’t going to be a jumpy horror movie, it was a lot more subdued and didn’t necessarily keep me constantly entertained from begging to end. The film lacked a hook, it was very minimal and the characters were all terribly unlikable, I wasn’t rooting for anyone and personally didn’t care too much about the ending. The film from the outside seemed to promise a lot more than what was actually delivered.


Florence Pugh has always been a dynamic actress and definitely tries to keep the audience engaged but sadly everything happening around her was bland.


The character of Jackson was strained and unnecessarily irritating, I think the intention was to make him confused and mysterious but instead it simply came across as distracting and added nothing to the overall story and outcome.


The film was lacklustre, it was missing something, the characters were all one dimensional and lacked any true likability. The intention and story reveal at the end could have been really interested but sadly, it was just a little boring.


I watched continuing to be hopeful that something would shift, hoping that the characters were change or the overall atmosphere of the film would blossom. Sadly, this film never really changed its tone. Even once the grand reveal was shared it was still a little boring, the reveal wasn’t a revelation, I definitely had my thoughts behind the intentions of each characters and wasn’t surprised by the ultimately showdown and conclusion.


Malevolent (2018) was simply forgettable, after watching I wouldn’t rush to recommend this movie and definitely won’t be checking it out again. The story was dull and not a lot happened from beginning to end. All the characters were under developed and added very little enjoyment to the overall viewing experience. Not the best horror i’ve ever seen but also not the worst.

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