The Sadness

The Sadness
Theatrical release poster
Traditional Chinese	哭悲
Hanyu Pinyin	Kū Bēi
Hokkien POJ	Khàu-pi
Directed by	Rob Jabbaz
Written by	Rob Jabbaz
Produced by	Jeffrey Huang David Barker Wei-Chun Lu
Starring	Berant Zhu Regina Lei Tzu-Chiang Wang
Cinematography	Jie-Li Bai
Edited by	Rob Jabbaz
Music by	TZECHAR
Production company	Machi Xcelsior Studios
Distributed by	Raven Banner Entertainment
Release date	22 January 2021 (2021-01-22)
Running time	99 minutes
Country	Taiwan
Languages	Taiwanese Hokkien Mandarin

The Sadness (Chinese: 哭悲; pinyin: Kū Bēi; lit. 'Cry Sad') is a 2021 Taiwanese zombie horror film written, directed, and edited by Canadian filmmaker Rob Jabbaz in his feature directorial debut. It stars Berant Zhu and Regina Lei as a young couple attempting to reunite amidst a viral pandemic that turns people into homicidal sadists.

Produced by Machi Xcelsior Studios and David Barker, the film received a theatrical release in Taiwan on 22 January 2021, and premiered internationally at the 74th Locarno International Film Festival on 12 August 2021. It received positive reviews.

Plot

Medical experts and government officials in Taiwan argue over the "Alvin virus", a virus responsible for an infection similar to influenza. The government has refused to take large-scale measures to prevent the transmission of Alvin, and many ordinary people doubt that the virus exists at all. However, some virologists fear that it has the potential to mutate and cause serious illness.

Jim and Kat, a young couple in Taipei, pass a bloody crime scene while riding their moped to a train station. Jim drops Kat off at the station and then goes to a cafe. A blood-soaked old woman with black eyes and a crazed expression assaults other cafe customers, spitting thick mucus on one of them and burning an employee with hot cooking oil before tearing his face off. The man she spat on suddenly attacks another customer with a knife. The woman chases Jim into the street, where she is hit by a car driven by a man with the same symptoms as her. Jim flees back to his apartment on foot, chased by the infected locals. He texts Kat to stay where she is, promising to rescue her. His neighbor then attacks him, cutting off two of his fingers with garden shears. Jim manages to escape, using a cloth to cover his injury.

Meanwhile, Kat's train is attacked by two infected men who stab passengers with knives and infect others, including a middle-aged businessman who had just confessed his fascination with Kat to her. As the newly infected passengers rape and kill the others, Kat escapes from the train with Molly, a woman who was stabbed in the eye by the businessman after he became infected. The businessman pursues them through the train station with an axe, which he uses to kill a muscular man who tries to defend them. Kat and Molly barely escape the train station as an employee named Kevin shuts the entrance, which he says he did under police orders even if it meant trapping them inside with the businessman.

Kat, Molly, and Kevin arrive at the hospital, which is overrun with those harmed by the infected. The government broadcasts an emergency message vowing to take control of the situation, but an infected army general turns and kills the president with a grenade on live television. The hospital patients begin to panic, distracting the police officers there, just as the businessman and other infected people break through the doors. Kat escapes into a stairwell as the businessman finds Molly in a wheelchair and rapes her eye wound, infecting her as Kevin hides nearby. Jim escapes to the outskirts of town, passing scenes of sadism along the way. He contacts Kat, who tells him where she is. As they talk, he begins to cry and hallucinate that a discarded mannequin head is lapping up his blood and sweat—signs that he is infected.

The businessman continues his pursuit of Kat through the hospital's hallways, but she ambushes him and crushes his head with a fire extinguisher. She is rescued from other infected people by Alan Wong, a doctor who has been hiding in the maternity ward. Alan explains that he attempted to find the cure for the Alvin virus, which—in its mutated form—connects the parts of the brain that control sexual urges and aggression. He theorizes that the infected cry because they are aware of the terrible things they do but are completely unable to stop, likening it to resisting the urge to blink. When Kat finds an infected baby in a medical waste bin, Alan injects her with the virus to see if she is immune to it. He reveals that he had conducted similar tests on the babies who had been abandoned in the ward, but all of them had become infected, and he was forced to euthanize them. He says that he will kill Kat if she becomes infected, but will spare her if not, as this is a sign that her immunity holds the key to stopping the virus.

Kat uses Kevin's phone to text her location to Jim, who has just arrived at the hospital. When she exhibits no symptoms of the virus, Alan frees her and calls for a military helicopter to escort them both to a safe location. He warns her that the soldiers will not rescue her without him. As they make their way to the roof, two infected people attack them. Alan manages to kill them but is wounded. Jim arrives, revealing that he is infected. After a struggle, he kills the newly infected Alan, who admits with his last breath that he enjoyed killing the babies. Kat steals Alan's keys and locks Jim outside the stairwell to the rooftop. Jim tells her that being infected feels wonderful and that he can think of no more loving act than to mutilate and kill her. Kat begins laughing hysterically, presumably due to psychological damage from what she has experienced, though it is also hinted that she is not immune and has become infected. She flees up the stairs and through a door leading to the rooftop. As the door closes behind her, the sound of automatic gunfire is heard, implying that she has died. Mortally wounded by Alan, Jim sits against the stairwell gate and dies with a grin on his face.

Cast

• Berant Zhu as Jim
• Regina Lei as Kat
• Tzu-Chiang Wang as the Businessman
• Emerson Tsai as Warren Liu
• Wei-Hua Lan as Alan Wong
• Ralf Chiu as Mr. Lin
• Lue-Keng Huang as Kevin
• Ying-Ru Chen as Molly

Production

The Sadness was shot on Red Digital Cinema "Monstro" cameras with Arri "Signature Prime" lenses. Filming lasted 28 days in Keelung and Taipei. The film's special effects were handled by IF SFX Art Maker. The effects crew spent up to three months producing a number of practical artificial heads, including some that could be made to explode or spray blood, as well as prostheses, organs, and other props. Production designer Liu Chin-Fu oversaw the film's set design, which included a subway car and a hospital.

Release

The Sadness was released in Taiwan on 22 January 2021. It had its international premiere at the 74th Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland on 12 August 2021. It was screened at the 25th Fantasia International Film Festival in Canada in August 2021, as well as at Fantastic Fest in the U.S. in September 2021.

Raven Banner Entertainment acquired the worldwide distribution rights to the film. In April 2022, it was confirmed that the film would begin streaming on Shudder on May 12, 2022.

Reception

Critical response

The Sadness received a positive reviews upon release. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 89% of 45 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.0/10. The website's consensus reads: "The Sadness lives up to its title with an unstintingly grim—and overall effective—slice of dystopian horror."

Film Threat's Alex Saveliev awarded The Sadness a 10/10 score, calling it "some kind of genius, propelling ahead with a vicious force, full throttle, both embracing and disregarding convention". Saveliev praised the style of the film, observing that "it's made with filmmaking finesse, elegantly structured, with a gorgeous electronic score helping to drive the narrative [...] obvious allusions to the current pandemic resonate, skillfully avoiding the 'overwrought' trap". Han Cheung of the Taipei Times called the film a "slickly-produced gorefest", noting the "fast-paced action and not-so-subtle digs at the government and humanity" but lamenting "the oversimplified plot and lack of attention to storytelling nuances and details".

Phuong Le of The Guardian gave the film 3/5 stars, writing, "Unencumbered by a need to explicitly spell out any overarching message, The Sadness accentuates gore's tactile yuckiness, utilising practical effects in a fashion that recalls retro exploitation flicks." She criticized the film's use of sexual violence as "a desensitising misstep" and added, "Nevertheless the assured command of style situates Jabbaz as an impressive new voice in horror cinema."

Some people have compared the film to the comic book series Crossed.

Awards

At the 2021 Fantasia International Film Festival, The Sadness won the award for Best Film in the New Flesh competition for first features.

Fantastic Fest awarded The Sadness Best Picture and Best Director in its 2021 horror competition.

External links

• The Sadness at IMDb