Malum(2023)

Plot Summary

• Lanford Police Department officers congratulate fellow cop Will Loren for rescuing teenage hostages Anna Cole, Monica Matthews, and Julie Sims from John Michael Malum, leader of a demon-worshipping cult called "The Flock" that ritualistically kills women whose bodies are then fed to pigs. Inexplicably, Will soon goes on a sudden murder spree throughout the police station before finally killing himself.For her first assignment as a rookie cop one year later, Will's daughter Jessica Loren requests a solo shift where she will provide overnight security for the old police station while all regular activity is rerouted to a new facility. Prior to her shift, Jessica visits her father's gravesite where she has an awkward encounter with her estranged, alcoholic mother Diane.Members of Malum's Flock accost Jessica on her drive to the old station. Jessica also observes cult members creating disturbances at the new police station too.Upon arriving at the old station, Jessica has an uncomfortable encounter with abrasive officer Grip Cohen. After dressing her down due to her family history, Cohen leaves Jessica alone in the building.Jessica finds a secret compartment inside her father's old locker that contains additional files and newspaper clippings regarding Malum's crimes. Jessica pockets a thumb drive. Pictures of an occult symbol that the cult leaves in pig's blood around town are later identified as symbolizing a demonic entity known as "The Temple Baron."Jessica finds the symbol painted on the back of a live pig mysteriously left outside the station. Jessica eventually brings the pig inside, but is later forced to shoot it.A vagrant muttering cryptically breaks into the station. Jessica subdues the man, but she becomes locked in a holding cell with him. Before ultimately escaping the room, Jessica hears her father's voice in the darkness and sees a shocking vision of three people hanging from the ceiling.Remembering that she heard him shouting at no one when she first arrived, Jessica calls Officer Cohen to question him about the apparent paranormal activity possibly haunting the station. Cohen merely insults Jessica before hanging up.Jessica sees a hooker named Marigold being thrown out of a car outside. While Jessica treats her wounds, Marigold recounts how she was at that station one year ago when Malum and two of his female followers, Dorothea and Kitty, hanged themselves in the holding area. Jessica becomes confused by a contradictory official story, which contends that Malum died in an officer-involved shooting. Jessica kicks out Marigold after the woman becomes suddenly entranced and starts ranting.A series of taunting phone calls culminates in someone claiming they have Monica Matthews, one of the three survivors Will Loren rescued, held hostage. The voice also tells Jessica that her father started something the cult plans to finish that night. Jessica calls the other police station to make another report regarding the strange events and learns Monica Matthews did in fact go missing that evening along with Ana Cole and Julie Sims.On the thumb drive, Jessica finds video footage of the Malum Flock brutalizing their victims. Another file shows Jessica an entranced doppelganger seemingly in the room with her. Additional visions including one of a disfigured entity that chases her out of the shooting range continue plaguing Jessica.Jessica calls the other station for assistance upon discovering she has been chained inside the building. The responding voice verifies the rumor that John Malum died in that station.Video footage of Malum and his accomplices' interrogations seemingly show Jessica's father behaving oddly after seeing a strange figure. Officer Price, who subsequently arrives with his partner Hudson to transfer the vagrant, confirms to Jessica that her father was acting strange before he killed his fellow officers, and Will warned everyone to avoid the holding area because Malum was somehow still there even though he died.A combination of visions and video footage reveals that Jessica's mother Diane was once a member of Malum's Flock and Jessica was baptized by Malum as a baby. Jessica confronts her mother about the truth when Diane comes to the station. Diane explains that Malum promised Jessica would be a crucial part of a bigger plan, but after Diane started suffering from disturbing visions, she went on the run. Malum finally found their family one year ago, which spurred Will to take down the cult. Diane wanders away from Jessica after becoming entranced by a figure.Jessica starts questioning reality as she continues experiencing visions of cultists killing hostages, cultists overrunning the building, and dead cops haunting the hallways. Jessica shoots the vagrant during one of these visions. Malum is also revealed as the phone voice Jessica had been talking to at the other police station.Visions lead Jessica to a dark room where she finds Malum, resurrected as a ghoulish figure, sitting on a makeshift throne. Cultists and dead cops seemingly surround Jessica before parting to make way for a creature that has come to feed on her spirit.Jessica suddenly jolts back to an empty hallway in reality, but inadvertently shoots her mother dead. With visions of cultists and dead cops continuing to taunt her, Jessica ultimately shoots herself in despair. Two figures drag away Jessica's dead body and place her on a throne next to Malum's. Jessica's head suddenly twitches. (thanks to culturecrypt)

Storyline

• MALUM is a bold and expanded reimagining of the 2014 horror cult classic, LAST SHIFT. On a search to uncover the mysterious circumstances surrounding her father's death, a newly appointed police officer, Jessica Loren (Jessica Sula) is assigned to the last shift in a decommissioned police station where a notoriously vicious cult saw their demise years prior. The lone officer at the station, she soon finds herself barraged by terrifying paranormal events, and in the process, is taken on a journey during which she learns the shocking truth behind her family's entanglement with a demented cult leader. MALUM takes the premise of the 2014 festival hit and flips it on its head, thrusting viewers into an unrelenting, adrenaline-fueled, bloody cult nightmare. — Official Synopsis