WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Malignant, currently in theaters and on HBO Max.
James Wan's Malignant seems like a typical ghoul story early on as visions of people being murdered plague Maddie (Annabelle Wallis). It turns out her parasitic twin, Gabriel, has a hold on her mind, controlling her to perform these kills to exact revenge on those that took the tumor out decades ago. However, as is the case with many modern horror films, there are many plot holes and unanswered questions that arise.
Why Can't the Cops Hit the Mark?
Throughout Malignant, the Seattle police are like Star Wars' Stormtroopers because they just can't hit Gabriel once he possesses Maddie's body. Sure, he rocks a trenchcoat and becomes a shadowy figure, but from Detective Shaw firing on him at point-blank in a hotel to the entire precinct missing when Gabriel attacks their main hall in broad daylight, it's ridiculous. Seeing as the killer's not supernatural, they should have hit the target a few times.
Why Does Guiding Light Not Have Maddie's Records?
Guiding Light is the adoption agency that transferred Maddie to Sydney's family after removing Gabriel's flesh from her body in 1993. However, they have no records of this, which is weird as they gave her the new identity of Emily after the institution. It seems it's all done to send Sydney back to the derelict, scary Simion Research Hospital. There, she dredges up archival footage of the experiments done to scrape Gabriel out of Maddie's body, providing backstory.
Why Jail Maddie
The cops find a Jane Doe who's been held prisoner in Maddie's attic, not knowing Gabriel's behind it. The problem is, Sydney's her alibi, plus Shaw has faced the ghoul before, so he knows of Gabriel's existence. He's seen Gabriel scale buildings like Spider-Man. Maddie's also helped Shaw on the case, and, to top it off, Gabriel even phones in during her interrogation. Therefore, Shaw has no reason to place her in a cell with killers without more evidence.
How Does Gabriel Have Powers?
Gabriel isn't supernatural, yet while Maddie's in cuffs, Gabriel calls in to taunt the cops. He also's able to jump into objects like TV screens and speakers to taunt targets from the hospital. It feels like Wan's trying to pay homage to Poltergeist, but it breaks the rule of what Gabriel is -- just a consciousness in Maddie. While his super-strength, speed and flexibility could come from rage and tapping into the human potential, the seemingly supernatural powers are a stretch.
Why Doesn't Maddie Hurt?
Jane Doe turns out to be Serena: Maddie and Gabriel's birth mom, who gave them up for adoption at 15. Gabriel comes to the hospital to kill Serena, but Shaw shoots the villain in the torso. Yet the finale has Maddie taking back control but not even addressing the wound. She had no healing factor, so she should be hurting or dead. There's also the fact that Gabriel uses her body to scale buildings and falls from a fire escape while on the run from Shaw. Therefore, it seems like an unknowing Maddie still would be some the next day. Instead, the movie forgets her injuries as she embraces Sydney in Malignant's conclusion.
Why Wait to Kill Sydney?
In the hospital, Gabriel wanted Sydney dead as he was jealous of her sisterly bond with Maddie. But Gabriel had many opportunities to kill her before when Sydney visited Maddie and stayed over. Killing Sydney in front of Serena in the finale adds drama, but it doesn't fit as Serena isn't Sydney's blood mother. Thus, there's no resonance, leaving audiences wondering why Sydney wasn't taken out before, which would have weakened Maddie's mind and allowed Gabriel more control.
Why Is Gabriel's Form Different?
When Gabriel's face emerges from Maddie's skull at the precinct to show his true form, the hands contort and face his direction. The legs remain the same, though, so it's as if a forward-facing Gabriel has feet that point backward. Yet when Shaw fights and chases Gabriel earlier on, the feet face forward in Gabriel's body. This is a massive discrepancy, which seems done not to spoil the big reveal about him being in the back of Maddie's skull, under her hair.
To cacth these plot holes in Malignant, check out James Wan's new film in theaters or on HBO Max.