The Sadness

In the aftermath of a pandemic, most people have become complacent and the warning from a scientist that it could easily mutate goes ignored. That is until infected people suddenly turn into rabid monsters, acting on their darkest impulses. Amid shocking scenes of depravity and slaughter, two young lovers struggle to reunite amidst the madness that is engulfing the city. Rob Jabbaz’s unrelenting debut is a scathing indictment of societal breakdown with scenes of sexual violence, necrophilia and worse. Be warned: The Sadness may be the most extreme film we’ve screened in Night of the Dead! Screening with Visitors (Kenichi Ugana, Japan, 2021, 16 mins).

悲

‘With The Sadness, the point is cruelty, the point is how malice makes the difference. That’s what’s scary. That’s why this movie is scary. It needed to have graphic violence, it needed to have extreme graphic violence, and also it needed to be framed in a realistic way. Mostly. There is one part in the film where I kind of intentionally went over the top, because I wanted to – I don’t even know if it worked – but like, I just wanted to kind of wink at the audience and just could be kind of like, it’s okay if you like this.’

Director Rob Jabbaz, from an interview with iHorror.