Doing a scene in one take or making it look like a scene has been done in one uncut take is more difficult than it looks or sounds. So, you can only imagine what it must take to do an entire film that is either done in one shot or made to look like it is. Some of the most popular examples that come to mind are Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Birdman, Sam Mendes’ 1917, and James Nunn’s action extravaganzas, One Shot and One More Shot. Now, many have criticized that, given how the “invisible cuts” in these movies are pretty visible, the whole one shot gimmick feels like a distraction rather than an efficient way to give viewers an immersive experience. Well, that’s where films like Victoria, One Cut of the Dead, and Boiling Point come into play, as they have achieved the aforementioned effect by doing the film in one long, uninterrupted take. MadS is, as far as I know, the first proper zombie/vampire horror flick to enter this subgenre of films. How does it fare? Let’s find out.
David Moreau’s MadS opens with the son of a rich dad, Romain, doing hard drugs at some remote shack on the outskirts of the city. As he drives back home in his posh-looking convertible, he runs into a badly bandaged woman who is seemingly on the run from someone or something. Her tongue has been cut off, so she can’t say what’s up with her. All she has with her is an audio recorder filled with files about some kind of experiment. Since Romain is drugged out of his mind and trying to drive the woman to a hospital, he can’t make head or tail of what she is trying to convey. To make things worse, the woman suddenly pulls out a sharp object from the glovebox, stabs herself to death, and then spews her blood onto Romain. That throws the option of taking her to the hospital out of the window because it looks like Romain has murdered a woman. Hence, he drives home, cleans himself up, and after his girlfriend, Ana, arrives, he attends a party. And that’s when Romain begins to realize that he is undergoing some strange physiological changes.
Multiple outlets have claimed that MadS is a zombie movie, but everything about the nature of the ghouls made it feel like a vampire movie. Now, regardless of what kind of transformation the virus is leading to, the main question is: What is Moreau trying to say through this outbreak? Well, for the most part, I thought that the experimental drug that the kids were copiously consuming was causing them to turn into ghouls. So, naturally, I thought that Moreau was condemning the consumption of “experimental” drugs and how the thirst for a new high can lead to something catastrophic. But then I realized that it’s probably not the drug, but the tainted blood of the bandaged woman that’s the reason for the outbreak, which has been spread by Romain after attending a party full of people. That’s when I assumed that it was a COVID-allegory movie and Moreau is trying to remind us about how our inability to stay home (especially if we’re a non-essential worker), despite being sick, led to so many deaths. However, the involvement of the government and private armed forces made it seem like a metaphor for fascism and how easily the cost of a life can be reduced to nothing during times of crisis.
MadS can totally be about all the aforementioned topics, or it’s just an experiment to see if a faux one shot zombie/vampire horror can actually be pulled off. While I think that Moreau doesn’t really succeed in presenting a compelling set of characters or a cohesive narrative with themes and arcs, he does a pretty good job with the faux one shot gimmick. Eagle-eyed viewers will see through the illusion and point out the “invisible cuts” in the journeys of Romain, Ana, and Julia—well, at least most of them. But to the untrained eye, the transitions will look seamless. I think the first act is perfectly thrilling and suffocating as Moreau and his team chart Romain’s devolution into a ghoul. However, the next two acts don’t really build on it in terms of the set pieces or the horror of the situation. They kind of just happen. Since there’s not much to care about the characters due to the weak writing, the audience becomes a passive observer of the gory events of the film, and I feel that’s antithetical to the whole point of the film. I want to reiterate that the filmmaking on display is impressive, but there’s nothing more to it but the gimmick.
MadS is low on dialogue, thereby pushing its young cast to express so much through their face and body language. Milton Riche does all the heavy lifting in the first act as he clues in the audience regarding the kind of confusion and paranoia that his character is facing. The amount of times he hits his face to bring himself to his senses must’ve left a bruise on his face. And his transformation into a feral beast that lusts for blood and guts is nothing short of beautiful. After Riche exits the scene, the proverbial baton is passed onto Laurie Pavy. I don’t think it’d be insulting to say that Pavy channels Isabelle Adjani’s performance in Possession to convey the fear and manic liberation that Ana feels while turning into a ghoul. The way she commits the most heinous crimes known to man and instantly regrets her actions is pretty delightful to watch. Since Moreau doesn’t infuse much variety into Ana’s arc, the character does become a little one-note after a while. But that doesn’t stop Pavy from swinging for the fences. Lucille Guillaume gets the responsibility to take the movie over the finish line, and I think that she is brilliant. The panic and desperation of Julia is palpable due to Guillaume’s gut-wrenching performance. I wish we got to see more of her. The rest of the supporting cast, background actors, and stunt actors are great.
MadS definitely starts out strong and then kind of fizzles out towards the end. But even when it is fizzling out, it manages to do some impressive stuff with its cinematography and “invisible” editing. If you have stayed away from zombie horror films because of the blood and gore, I think this is a good gateway into the genre because there’s enough dismembered body parts and bodily fluids to scare you, but not enough to make you shut off the film. The one shot gimmick is fine. I think it is at its most impactful during the first act, and as the “invisible” cuts become more and more noticeable, it loses its sheen. Still, it’s an impressive feat. MadS is worth watching for the performances alone. Milton Riche, Lucille Guillaume, and Laurie Pavy have truly poured their hearts and souls into this. This is the first time that I’m seeing them on the screen, and I hope they’ve got a bright future ahead of them. And if this leaves you yearning for more zombie films, here are some recommendations: Go Goa Gone, Shaun of the Dead, all the George A. Romero zombie films, [REC], I Am Legend, Train to Busan, The Cured, Anna and the Apocalypse, Overlord, The Dead Don’t Die, Blood Quantum, and #Alive.
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