Movies - TV
James Wan Sees A Feminist Streak Running Through Malignant
By SARAH MUSNICKY
In the third act of "Malignant," audiences learn Madison has a premature twin still fused to her body, named Gabriel, who is the one responsible for all the violent things happening in the film. "Malignant" is ultimately about a woman fighting for her right to bodily autonomy, and it's this theme that director James Wan feels best encapsulates the feminist streak.
As Wan described it to Yahoo!, the idea to inject a feminist streak came from producer and writer Ingrid Bisu: "Even though the movie has all these crazy over-the-top gore and prosthetic effects, Ingrid has a really sort of feminist bone to her, and so the idea of women having control taken away from them [comes from her]." The fight for bodily autonomy applies to all genders.
Bisu shared with /Film's own Jacob Hall in an interview, "I think this creature, this twin, is evil, and it's manipulating the person who's inhabiting the body because he doesn't have his own body. He has to share this body," but this act of sharing is parasitic. Wan further explained, "That was very important for us: that the film has something to talk about and is not just cool effects."