Malevolent (2018 film)


Malevolent is a 2018 British horror film directed by Olaf de Fleur Johannesson from a screenplay by Ben Ketai and Eva Konstantopoulos, based on the novel Hush by Konstantopoulos. The film centers on a team of scam artists who are making money from faked paranormal encounters. During an assignment at a country house, the team get more than they bargained for and one by one, they begin to lose grip on reality.
The film stars Florence Pugh, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Scott Chambers, Georgina Bevan, James Cosmo, and Celia Imrie. It was released on 5 October 2018 by Netflix.

Plot

In 1986 Scotland, Angela and Jackson are two American siblings who, with a small team of paranormal investigators, run a fake medium scam on clients who believe their houses are haunted. The team uses the reputation of the siblings' late mother to promote Angela's powers as a medium. Jackson orchestrates the scams because of a debt he owes to loan sharks.
During their latest assignment, strange incidents occur, causing Angela to worry about the parallels to her mother, who heard voices and wound up committing suicide because she saw people who weren't there. A new client, Mrs. Green, requests they come to stop the girls' "screaming". Angela is too disturbed and turns down the request; she looks into the history of the caller's house and discovers that the owner’s foster children were found dead with their mouths sewn shut many years ago and her son was blamed. Jackson, needing the money to pay off the loan sharks, agrees to the job, despite reluctance from his sister.
They formulate a plan to con Mrs. Green. Angela sees the spirits of the murdered girls and follows them into the East Wing, where the floor collapses. They discover the place the girls had been kept.
Mrs. Green informs Jackson that they've failed and she believes them to be scam artists. Jackson starts seeing things himself and finally decides to abandon the job after Mrs. Green hints that she was involved in the girls' murders. They find Beth, the technician and Jackson's girlfriend, unconscious with her mouth sewn shut. Attempting to flee with the others, Jackson crashes the car, killing Beth.
The siblings are captured as Mrs. Green cuts out Jackson's tongue, hammers out his teeth and sews his mouth shut before ordering her son, Herman, to kill him. Their cameraman Elliot manages to kill Herman just as Mrs. Green gets started on Angela. The spirits of the dead girls appear and Angela pleads with them to help. They begin to scream, distracting Mrs. Green long enough for Angela to free herself and kill her. Limping to the road for help, Angela sees Jackson's ghost searching for Beth before wandering away.
Angela and Elliot are taken to the hospital. On the phone to her grandfather, Angela tells him, "I'm not alone" as a dark shadow passes over her.

Cast

Release

The film was released on 5 October 2018 by Netflix.