One of the most highly buzzed premieres at Fantastic Fest this year was the wonderfully chaotic "MadS," a film I was summarizing to those who would listen as "George A. Romero's 'Run Lola Run.'" It's a one-shot stunner that, like Tykwer's beloved film, unfolds in a very tight window of chaos on one crazy night. But, like so much Romero, it's also about the blood-soaked end of the world. (And it features wonderfully twitchy physical movements by its infected characters that are clearly inspired by a legacy of brain eaters.) David Moreau, the writer of the fantastic "Ils" (aka "Them") from 2006, wants to rivet you to the screen with his directorial debut, pushing aside the era of elevated horror to embrace something more like chaotic horror. It doesn't always have to "mean something". Sometimes, you just want to enjoy the rollercoaster.
"MadS" opens with a young man named Romain (Milton Riche) at his dealer's place, testing some new product that he's going to take to his girlfriend and their clan for a night out of partying. On the way back to the city, he drops a cigarette and pulls over to assess the damage on Daddy's car when a bandaged, mutilated woman jumps into the passenger seat. She refuses to leave, even as she's unable to speak—she plays an ominous recording that makes it sound like she was experimented on at a nearby facility, from which she's escaped. He drives off, and things go very wrong almost immediately as she starts stabbing herself, getting her blood all over our poor driver. To say his night is ruined would be an understatement.
Again, "MadS" is shot in one continuous take, and one of my favorite sections unfolds as Romain drives home, parks in the garage with a body in his passenger seat, and goes in to wash off her blood. Moreau does a fantastic job at making his oner feel organic and unpredictable. We can feel Romain's WTF wheels turning in his brain, trying to figure out what to do next, especially with Daddy coming home tomorrow, and things shift substantially when he returns to the car to find his new friend gone. Almost hysterically, he goes out on the town anyway with his girlfriend Anais (Lucille Guillaume), although he's clearly getting increasingly unwell. Can't stop the party.
The party is about to stop for everyone, but again, Moreau keeps his fluid camera moving through the carnage in a less performative way than most one-shot films. It's not about showing off as much as forcing perspective. We don't get to cut to the other angle to see what's really going on or jump across town to a character that's been left behind. We're not given the release of a cut. We're too busy running. The forced POV gives "MadS" an energy that it wouldn't otherwise have, enhancing the confusion by locking us to one character at a time, almost running to keep up with its terrified characters. It makes "MadS" feel unlike most of the films that inspired it, a fresh take on a concept we've seen before.
"MadS" is viciously bleak—at about the halfway point, when Romain cedes center stage to the phenomenal Lucille Guillaume—I realized that everyone was doomed. And yet, moments of sharp, wicked humor are embedded in the bloody momentum. Horror fans always look for new ways to tell some of the most timeless stories, and I think they'll flip for it. We've seen so many tales about the end of the world. We've never seen one quite like this.
This review was filed from the world premiere at Fantastic Fest. It premieres on Shudder on October 18th.
