The Sadness

The Sadness
Starring Berant Zhu, Regina Lei, Tzu-Chiang Wang, Ying-Ru Chen
Directed by Rob Jabbaz

We often say in moments of crisis that people would band together and help one another, and while sometimes that's proven true such as with the 9/11 attacks, lately it seems the total opposite. When Covid hit, and thousands of people were dying, there was no sense of unity but rather dissent: there was a huge swap of people who didn't even believe the virus was real, and would go above and beyond to insult and degrade anyone who thought otherwise. It showed that we really won't come together in difficult times, but instead focus on our inner demons that enjoy sewing discord and disunity. What would happen, then, if those demons inside us were allowed full reign over our bodily functions? If we could unleash our innermost carnal natures without remorse or holding back? That's the premise of "The Sadness," and once again proves that Asian cinema is not afraid to just push the envelope, but rip it apart with copious amounts of blood and gore in the process.

Young couple Jim (Berant Zhu) and Kat (Regina Lei) are living a wholesome life in Taiwan, and their future looks bright and cheery, even though news of a new virus - named Alvin - has begun to spread, they don't take much heed because many people believe it's a hoax crafted during a political election year. Jim drives Kat to the train station so she can go to work and then goes to a local restaurant where he encounters an elderly woman in a hospital gown who all of a sudden attacks patrons and workers, and they in turn start attacking others. Jim manages to escape and learns that the Alvin virus has mutated, and whoever is infected looses their inhibitions and gives into their dark, carnal natures. Meanwhile, Kat is on the subway when she's hit on by a creepy old businessman (Tzu-Chiang Wang) before someone on the train also starts committing murder, leading others to do the same. The businessman becomes infected and chases after Kat and another commuter named Molly (Ying-Ru Chen) to a local hospital, where Kat awaits Jim's arrival to rescue her - if he can make it there in one piece.

Many people wrongfully associate "The Sadness" with a zombie film, but it's more akin to a viral slasher film due to the fact that anyone infected doesn't become mindless shambling corpses seeking brains, but still retain everything that made them who they were before - only their darker nature is allowed to come forward with no hindrances from remorse or apathy. Those infected are out to satisfy their carnal natures and resort to murder, torture, and sexual assaults and maintain their faculties - they know what they're doing, and they relish in it. Much like George A. Romero's classic "The Crazies," "The Sadness" separates itself from any conventional genre and crafts its own unique, blood-soaked path.

The gore is amped up to "Inside" levels, with blood gushing from every open wound in excess, smearing the screen with the sweet red-splattered goodness. Be it from stabs or literal fire hydrants to the face, there's no shortage of gore and violence that starts almost from the get-go and never gives the viewer a moment to relax. It pulls us into the story and gives us a continual sense of dread and fear as at any moment another violent outbreak occurs, leaving us wondering what we would do in the same situation. To amp it up even more, director Rob Jabbaz joins with VFX maestro Logan Sprangers to provide practical effects that further pulls you into the tale because you're not distracted by fake CGI. Much like another blood-splattered outing in 2022 ("Terrifier 2"), "The Sadness" relishes on its practical effects and shows a true love for the craft as well as the story they're telling. There's no phoning it in with CGI, but rather the makeup effects were crafted with pinpoint precision and is highly effective in the gross-out meter.

Anyone going into a film of this caliber expecting some Oscar-worthy script clearly has never seen a film like this, as it's not going to win any awards for original screenplay, but that's not the point. The film accomplishes what it sets out to do and along the way provides some surprisingly emotional side-characters that we actually care about, along with our hapless young lovers. While Jim and Kat's relationship is established in the first ten minutes, we don't really learn much about them otherwise, and it's not something we needed to know. We know enough to root for them and hope they manage to come together and have their happily post-apocalyptic after, and each of them have their own strengths.

Jim manages to avoid the throngs of ruthless killers outside while Kat's adventures are more confined and claustrophobic: first she has to escape a literal train to hell, and then try to survive in a closed-off hospital where the crazies have overtaken the building. The cinematography is top notch, especially in one unnerving scene where the businessman  - now a crazed animal - stalks Kat and Molly through the train station. And like that scene, "The Sadness" will leave you feeling exhausted and contemplative: what would happen if a virus like this happened in real life? Would we be able to contain our demons or would we let them out to play? It's a scary thought, all the more profound seeing how we act toward one another already with our moral compass still set due north.

While American films have been lauded for being too tame in the genre of horror, international horror has no such constraints. The French have provided some of the most gruesome yet powerfully told films like "Martyrs" and "Inside," while the Asian market has exploded in recent years with such cerebral horror like "Ju-On," "Ringu," and "Kairo." Yet they also provide the body horror with films like "Audition" and "Oldboy," and even claimed the virus market with unforgettable films like "Train to Busan" and now "The Sadness," which will undoubtedly be raised to the upper echelon of international horror movies in the years and decades to come.

The Score: A+