As a film debut, respect must be given to the writer/director willing to come out the gate swinging, gouging, and committed to atrocity. After some quick setup and brief introduction to our main couple, the action suddenly, jarringly hits all the gas, adds some nitro, kicks in the afterburners, and accelerates to ludicrous speed. Imagine a virus that removes inhibition and morality with imagination intact, then exponentially heightening each impulse towards lust and cruelty. This movie will immediately turn most off with scenes of violence, rape, torture and mutilation are vividly, spectacularly rendered and gratuitous by design. This movie is unrelentingly horrific, not simply in scenes of gore and physical violence, but with a malicious spirit and bleakness towards humanity without potential of redemption. The eponymous ‘Sadness’ is a mourning for humanity, society, and a potential future, obviously written in response to the lockdowns, and the public and political response to Covid. The movie is never subtle, characters in the last act wax poetic on the implications of what this virus reflects about humanity with all the subtlety of a rabid wolverine. However, the film is not particularly deep, and not presenting much new or unique beyond the level of intensity. While events are described globally, the focus feels rather small and constrained to the journey of a single couple as their hometown falls to this apocalypse. While the story and characters are paper thin and there’s no redeeming aspect to much of the violence, it is impossible to deny fast-paced rollercoaster of high-octane nightmare fuel depicted. Very likely the most horrific film of the last year, but not necessarily one that anyone with the exception of the most devoted genre enthusiasts will enjoy watching.
The Sadness (2021)