Zombie movies — and I’m including aggressive infection movies like 28 Days Later (2002) and The Sadness (2021) under that umbrella term, too — usually share more than a few strands of horror film DNA. They introduce protagonists, drop them in growing nightmare of undead/infected masses, and leave us wondering how they’ll survive the murderous, flesh-chomping madness all around them. The new French outbreak thriller MadS takes a slightly different tact, though, and it does so while under the illusion of one single, increasingly chaotic take.
Romain (Milton Riche) is a teenager with many faults, from his drug use to his infidelity, but it’s his attempt at helping a stranger that might ultimately be his downfall. A bleeding, bandaged, and clearly disturbed woman crawls into his car, and before they can reach a hospital she spews crimson fluid in his face and stabs herself to death. In shock and far too immature to handle the situation, Romain tries to continue with his evening plans, but soon he’s acting erratic and violent. And unfortunately for all involved, he also manages to pass on something wet to one of his friends.
MadS delivers an initially somber, real-time look at the start of a nightmare, and while its one-take (a handful of shots, stitched together quite well to look like one eighty-six minute ride) presentation will be deemed a gimmick by some, it’s an incredibly effective way to capture the infectious spread, the growing chaos, and the ultimate frenzy to come. Opening beat aside, this is a film that takes an almost slow burn approach early on as we follow Romain and others moving about houses, neighborhoods, and more. Still, you wouldn’t call it down time as the quiet is laced with tension, both in what the characters know and what the viewers know, meaning even a simple bicycle ride is met with clenched fists.
Where MadS differs from most films of its type is in its chapter-like ensemble. Rather than focus on one lead character throughout, or even several at once, the real-time approach sees the camera’s gaze moving between Romain, his girlfriend Anais (Laurie Pavy), and their mutual friend, Julia (Lucille Guillaume). In theory it should lessen our attachment to each of them given the limited screen time. In reality, though, all three deliver terrific performances as young people seeing their futures fade in an aggressive cloud of fear, confusion, and blood. Guillaume is tremendously good at externalizing her understandably high degree of fear, anger, and confusion, while Pavy stuns with a turn that grows animalistic, playful, and terrifying in equal measure.
Cinematographer Philip Lozano‘s camera is every bit as important here, capturing not just moments of terror and panic, but also of time’s steady flow. We move forward in time and space, and there’s a near-seamless tether as his camera sticks with characters walking between houses, riding bikes through quiet, moonlit suburbs, driving down lazy roads, running from the sound of gnashing teeth and laughter. Calm moments grow shorter, pulses begin to race, and we’re made witness to the beginning of the end.
Director David Moreau keeps the energy in check, doling out the violence, scares, and chaos at an increasing tempo before it all cuts loose in the third act. There are minimal jump scares here as he prefers a mix of crackling tension and violent release, and while we know the horror has grown beyond the lens, Moreau wisely keeps these three the focus. The terror becomes more intimate, more personal, and the more powerful for it. Very brief asides involving those responsible for the outbreak interrupt our trio on occasion, and while these beats feel iffy in their execution, they’re never enough to derail the momentum.
Moreau made his mark on the genre as co-director/co-writer of 2006’s terrifying home invasion chiller, Them, before dipping into Hollywood with his horror remake The Eye (2008) and then out again with some far lighter fare back home in France. MadS, then, is his return to the genre after six years, and it’s a reunion that should leave horror fans far from mad as it offers up a fresh, energetic, and frightening take on outbreak horror. Now let’s just hope we don’t have to wait another six years for his next cinematic nightmare.
