Horror Movie Review: MadS (2024)

More The Crazies than Night of the Living Dead with a hefty dollop of 28 Days/Weeks Later thrown in, MadS is a modern take on the infection/zombie outbreak horror. Delivering its harrowing tale via the extravagant showcase of one continuous take.

It is the unique selling point of the film, and while obviously it has cuts cleverly disguised, it manages to keep the pretence in impressive and, importantly, immersive style.

The story follows a set of characters who all end up being unwitting carriers of an infection. An infection that sees them lose control of their bodies, become excessively violent, and seemingly by the end, hungry for flesh. Yes, this is all very familiar stuff and MadS doesn’t have an original bone in its body when it comes to story, but that doesn’t mean it is found lacking. In fact, thanks to its gritty tone and drug-induced perspective, it ends up feeling wholly original.

Romain (Milton Riche), on route back from his dealer and high on drugs, ends up with an unwanted passenger. A desperate woman covered in bloody bandages and dirty rags. Unable to speak, but clearly in need of help, she tries to communicate with him via a tape recorder she has. Romain only has time to listen to a bit of it, but it seems to suggests that she’s an escaped patient from some sort of experimental facility and she might be carrying an infection.

The combination of her desperation and the drugs in his system means he can’t process anything happening, right up to the point where she bites him and then stabs herself to death.

Going to the police already wasn’t an option, but now, Romain has no choice but to head home and try to work out what to do. All while an infection she was carrying begins to make its way through his body. Unwittingly, Romain will end up passing this on to a few others – two women, in particular, and it’s those two that make up the latter part of the film. First, Anais, played phenomenally by Laurie Pavy and then Julia, played also impressively by Lucille Guillaume.

It’s with the latter that things really go off the rails and we see just how quickly this infection can spread and how any attempts to contain it will inevitably fail. It’s also with the latter when MadS drops much of its previous tension and becomes a more visceral watch, leading to a final third that is bleak and disconcerting to watch.

MadS leaves you feeling overwhelmed by what you’ve just seen. Something made even more relevant by the story having so much intangibility about it. By having the camera stick to one character exclusively, we never see the big picture unfold expect when the character sees it. That does make the film feel more real, but it also makes the experience feel like a bad drug trip. Is any of this really happening? Or is it all in the mind of a drug addict who decided to try a new high? In something so gritty and so bleak, a psychedelic edge is unexpected, but it works.

So much of what MadS does, works, and even the ‘one-shot’ gimmick proves not to be a distraction in the end. It is the sum of a lot of different parts, but does offer up enough unique value to make it a must see.