Even Alex Garland Can't Beat Malenia in ELDEN RING and He Talks About His Experience

If you've ever rage-quit after your tenth attempt to beat Malenia in Elden Ring, you're in good company, director Alex Garland knows your pain.

The acclaimed filmmaker behind Ex Machina and Annihilation, who’s also set to direct the upcoming Elden Ring movie from A24, is currently on his seventh playthrough of the game. Turns out, he's still stuck on the same boss that haunts the dreams of countless Tarnished: Malenia, Blade of Miquella.

In an interview with IGN while promoting 28 Years Later, Garland confessed:

"It's Malenia who's the tough one. I'm now on my seventh playthrough of that game. I've leveled up, I've got lots of juice, and a cool sword, and stuff like that, and I just throw myself at them again, and again, and again, and again.

“That was the technique I learned with 'Dark Souls.' It's not that you get better, it's more like monkeys and typewriters. You just keep doing it, and eventually, one day, they're dead."

Garland’s struggle with Malenia is hilariously relatable. She’s notorious for regaining health with every hit she lands, even if you block, and her hyper-aggressive moveset makes even the most leveled-up builds feel undercooked. It took my forever to beat this character!

Her second phase, where she transforms into the Goddess of Rot, kicks off with a deadly AOE that can one-shot you if you're not already sprinting in the opposite direction. And Garland? He’s still stuck in the same masochistic loop the rest of us fell into… learning by dying. Over, and over.

But it’s not all pain and panic rolls. Garland does find a silver lining in other boss fights, like Starscourge Radahn:

"Radahn is really easy. You just summon a bunch of guys, they take down half his health, and then you keep hitting him.”

Which, sure, works in the base game, but any Tarnished who’s braved the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC knows that strategy won’t fly with Promised Consort Radahn. That rematch is a full-blown endurance test with no summons, a brutal arena, and attacks designed to break your spirit.

Whether you're a first-time player or the director tasked with adapting Elden Ring for the big screen, the struggle is universal. Garland gets that, and it’s a good sign for the film.

Between his persistent trial-and-error playstyle and George R. R. Martin’s involvement as a producer, the Elden Ring adaptation might actually capture the spirit of the game, not just the lore, but the real emotional loop of failure, perseverance, and triumph. In other words… suffering.