"The Sadness" takes place in modern day Taiwan which is currently coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic when suddenly a new virus is discovered, one they call "The Alvin Virus." Little by little the virus takes over a town in Taiwan that separates a young couple during the outbreak and devastation that the virus causes. This movie is marketed as a zombie film but it is so much more than that.
This movie is more inline with films like "28 Days Later" in which instead of the virus turning people in walking undead, the infected turn angry and depraved. The film explains that the virus causes the victim's brain to live out their most darkest and deepest depraved emotions and thoughts. A "Walking Dead" style comic that actually inspired this movie, "The Crossed" serves as a good way of explaining why people act out their horrid, depraved, disturbed desires and the film does a good job of briefly, through small exposition, explaining the virus' affect but not how it is spread. Regardless, you will spend more time talking about graphic scenes of body gore and assault than trying to figure out the reasoning for the virus.
It is very well know that Asian horror loves to amplify themes to a thousand but for "The Sadness," it just seems they went to 2,000 due to its themes, shocking acts of gore, assault simulation, and the unrelenting gore scenes that keep toping each other. This is one of the films biggest pros and its cons, the film offers you TOP NOTCH special effects; this movie offers near realistic body gore that makes your skin just crawl. There is a scene that involves a basket of French fries that will leave you thinking thrice about getting hot oil on your skin. But this is also where the film's con comes in... the amazing well done special effects continue to top each other time and time again but so much so it leaves the viewer exhausted. Like they say, "sometimes a little goes a long way."
The film is only an hour and forty minutes but it feels like a two and half hour film because it is a movie that just does not provide you much breaks between the gore porn aspect of the film. The film's plot is simple in that a young couple needs to reunite since the downfall of their town happens when they are apart but the film makers take this as an opportunity to showcase the horror as the main star for much of the story's adventure.
The technical aspects of the film are all top notch, such as cinematography, score, set pieces, and (again) special effects, so the film feels VERY "real" which makes this horror film not scary but disturbing because the message sent behind the film is that "humans mind is only a thought away from horrible acts against humanity." There is also a message that resonates very close to home in that medical information has been politized and that message is brought a few times in key moments that make you feel like there is a warning message about the world's current state of mind.
"The Sadness" is a film that will be in the conversation of films that are amazing but hard to watch. In that conversation, you have films like "A Serbian Film", "Cannibal Holocaust", and "Green Inferno." This movie is one level below Serbian Film in disturbance and is sure to be a cult classic, maybe not a solo rewatchable film but one that will be sure to be a great rewatch with others who have not been exposed to this type of intensity for a horror film.
Rating: A-