If you think you’ve seen everything there is to be seen in the zombie genre of horror, 2021’s The Sadness exists to prove you wrong. Though subtitled and not dubbed, The Sadness is well worth doing a little reading for. It is in many ways to zombies what The Terrifier is to slasher films, a breath of fresh air in a stale sea of the same old, same old.
The Sadness is set in an very Covid 19 style era. A virus has spread across the city where the two main characters live. While most believe the virus is dying out and coming to an end that is far from the truth. The virus has been quietly mutating into something never seen before. Mixing the violent, fast moving infected of 28 Days Later with the outright sadistic gore of The Terrifier, The Sadness will equally make the viewer sick at times and at others feel their heartbreak for its main characters. The Sadness is not for those easily offended or faint of heart. That said, it’s also more than just a horror action romp with lots of blood and violence. There are deeper elements to The Sadness that will linger with the viewer long after they’ve finished the film and leave one wondering how humans can be capable of such pure evil.
(At the time this article was written, The Sadness was available on the Shudder streaming service and easy to find there.)
