MadS opens with recently graduated Romain (Milton Riche) as he’s bargaining with his dealer. Testing out new “product” and making plans to see his girlfriend at a party later that night. We see a young man with his whole life ahead of him just looking for a good time. On his way back to the city, he drops a cigarette in his Dad’s mustang and pulls over to assess the damage. He hears a thump and a bandaged woman jumps into the front seat. Unable to speak and refusing to leave. She pulls out an audio recorder, playing a recording about the experiments performed on her at a nearby facility. Creating some ominous fore-shadowing. As he drives off to take her to a hospital she begins to aggressively stab herself in the neck. Showering Romain in blood. That’s where we know his night isn’t going to go exactly as planned.
Romain drives home, parking in the garage with the body in the car and rushing to wash the blood off of himself. The utter realness felt in this frantic few minutes kept me glued to the screen. Pulling me into the moment. You can feel the panic as Romain madly tries to figure out what to do in this situation. To add to things his father calls and informs him he’s coming home the very next day.
At a terrifying pace, Romain notices his new companion is missing and his girlfriend Anais (Laurie Pavy) arrives. Dragging him out the door to an awaiting car, loaded with his loud obnoxious friends. Even though we can see he is increasingly becoming unwell, the party must go on.
Watching from Romain’s perspective, we see him wander around the party. Eventually encountering Julia (Lucille Guillaume), Romain’s other love interest. Creating a palpable tension between the three. Being in this forced perspective, we soon forget about the mystery person back home. Until receiving a phone call about the security alarms going off. Then Romain is off again. Locking us in a heart pounding race back to the house to get there before the police are called.
Heavily armored soldiers, clad in all black arrive at the house. We quickly learn that the unexpected passenger is indeed not dead. After being lured out by a flashing light and subsequently gunned down we begin to understand what we are dealing with.
With each act shifting perspective from Romain, to Anais then Julia, the panic rapidly increases. Riche being our introduction, coming to grips with the infection. Pavy showing the fast fall into bloody chaos as the infection spreads. Then closing with Guillaume’s acceptance that everyone is just doomed. The performances from each of the cast members is absolutely phenomenal. The drug fueled race toward the end of the world has been portrayed numerous times. But never quite like this.
I don’t know if people are aware of what exactly it takes to accomplish what MadS does. To have a story unfold in one chaotic take, in real time over the course of 86 minutes. All while ratcheting up the tension with every second passing is not an easy feat. It takes a special kind of filmmaker with a cohesive cast and crew firing on all cylinders. David Moreau was able to capture an unknown outbreak and its effect on a small group of people with an utter grit and realness that leaves the audience feeling like there’s no hope for survival.
Most seasoned horror fans will pick up on what is happening right away and know what’s coming. That familiarity will help them realize what’s exactly at stake and the danger Romain and everyone that comes in contact with him are facing. The fact that this is done in one take, unfolding in real time only takes that knowledge and amps up the desperation. Watching as the world burns at a rapidly escalating pace. Leaving the audience breathless and begging for respite. Some may say that the single-shot method is more of a gimmick. But in this case, I say it’s something that makes MadS stand out above most in a world of semi-predictable horror tropes.
As we watch from each character’s perspective as the hope fades and the crushing weight of what is happening set in. We understand that their world is going to end and there’s really nothing anyone can do to stop it. This film will drag the audience into the story. Taking them on a viscerally bleak ride into the darkness. This is the nerve-wracking kind of horror this genre has been missing and I’m all for it. MadS is now streaming on Shudder and believe me when I say, you need to experience this for yourself.
