Tuesday, 12 November 2024

VOD: MadS (dir: David Moreau, 2024)

"What's happened?  Why are you being all weird?"

A young party guy comes across a mysterious injured hysterical young woman by the roadside, but as he takes her to get help it sets in motion a chain of events that sees him steadily losing grip on reality - drugs-fuelled, or an experimental viral pandemic? - in this semi-experimental French psychological thriller/horror.  The story is told in near real-time, with a freeform use of camera (lots of lengthy shots off-tripod) following the characters to create a sense of intimacy and immediacy.  The experimental style with its hallucinatory and nightmarish use of visuals and sound (including a Pink Floyd-ish score) keeps the film veering between interesting and patience-testing, in what may be seen as a post-pandemic response movie.  Where the film falls down is that it reaches a natural conclusion just over half-way through, the remainder veering into familiar territory that is perhaps less interesting and adds very little.


 

No comments: