The Sadness (2022) spoiler free review
“You’re just like me, violent and depraved”. Written and directed by Rob Jabbaz The Sadness (Ku bei) is indeed one of the most disturbing horror movies in years. The film is heavily based on the comic books series Crossed published on September 2008.
A young couple tries to reunite in the middle of a city devastated by a plague that turns their victims into crazy and bloodthirsty sadists.
Official plot
Released on Shudder on May 12, 2022 the film got an official release in Taiwan on January 22, 2021 and an international premiere at the 74th Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland on August 12, 2021. The film won the Best Film award at the 2021 Fantasia Film Festival, Best Picture and Best Director on the 2021 Fantastic Fest horror category. It received positive reviews having a 100% Audience score and 91% Critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. On other rating sites like Metacritic the film holds a 70% while on IMDb an overall 6.5/10.
My opinion
This is not the usual zombie film that we’re used to watch. With a running time of one hour and thirty-nine minutes this movie will emerge you on violence from the fifteenth minutes mark and is not going to stop. The story resembles the pandemic situation that we’re living today although the film is based on the comic books series Crossed not the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, it will feel vaguely familiar for the viewers how the virus is treated by the media and the population.
The film is able to present a different type of zombie or infected. Here the infected are 100% conscious of what they’re saying and what they’re doing. They’re even enjoying everything that is happening. This leads to sadistic and brutal killers that will mutilate and harm, to say a few, who ever cross their way. The scrip fits perfectly with what they want to portray, every line of an infected will make you feel uncomfortable. On the special effects and makeup it overpasses other zombie films. The amount of blood and creative deaths doesn’t stop surprising throughout the film.
The only flaws of the film are the main characters and the oversimplification of the plot. There’s not a deep meaning behind it or a real purpose. If we want to go deeper the film can be interpreted as a portrait of how cruel humans can be when they don’t have nothing stoping them. On the protagonists you won’t feel sorry for them since we don’t know them enough to create a connection. Still, the acting covers this detail especially with the character of The Business Man. He’s chasing the female protagonists and delivers the best performance of the film turning himself the best character of the whole film.
The music and photography elevates the film making it visually appealing. This film is not for the faint of heart. Be sure to read the trigger warnings or watch the trailer. Going completely blind is not the best idea. Even after all the violence that this film has, and being a disturbing one, it not a bad film.