Mads

The opening of the film having the camera pull out of painting of a mouth reminiscent of The Scream, and into the room of a drug dealer and Romaín (Milton Riche) is a neat trick. That opens and introduces this one-take film set in France.

Receiving a call from girlfriend Anaïs/Ana (Laurie Pavy) he’s reminded about a party they are attending. Already well in the mood due to the number of drugs he’s taken Romaín hits the rural roads in his father’s Mustang, into which he drops a cigarette. Panicked he stops to assess the damage when a blood-soaked woman appears, almost mute implying she need a lift. She plays a tape that sets off another strand of the film.

Eventually he gets home, covered in blood with a body. He showers and reluctantly prepares for the party. Ana arrives with friends, and they are off to the party. There Romain goes off the rails, receiving some personal news and beats up a partygoer. Eventually getting back home where he’s dragged into a van and gunshots are heard.

The film now shifts to Ana who is nearly run over by the aforementioned van the occupants now setting their sights on her. Obviously suffering from whatever Romain had, a combination of taxi incident and refuge in a bar eventually sees her meet up with Julia (Lucille Guillaume) and they try to evade whatever is going on and in turn going after them.

An efficient baton change from character to character sees MaDs director David Moreau maintain a pace that pitches the film from fast to relentless with everything else in-between.

There’s a kinetic rhythm that is powered by the subject matter, aided by a very busy sound design that mixes everyday sounds of life with an eclectic musical soundtrack that ranges from garage rock, pop, drone, Floydian soundscapes, and one from the classic French songbook for good measure.

With this sort of pace and stylisation and concentration on visuals it would be easy to overlook the acting. The dialogue is functional however the named characters do breathe. There are revelations at the party that appear to affect Ana’s behaviour, played brilliantly by Pavy, who in the latter part of the film having met with Julia is battling with her sickness and her feelings towards her friend.

In some sense this all a bit hackneyed with an escaped patient, mass contamination and lethal force deployed to control it. However set over one night it becomes a concentrated bone fide nightmare. 38 Days Later briefly comes to mind though it shares more in theme and tone with Romero’s 1973 The Crazies.

MaDs will be available on Shudder on 18 October 2024.