The Sadness

In Taiwan an outbreak called the Alvin virus makes people act on their aggression. The infected do not lose their intelligence; they simply lose everything that used to stop them. All Jim and Kat want is to get back to each other across Taipei. Rob Jabbaz directed, the first feature by the Canadian filmmaker. Berant Zhu and Regina Lei star. It was shot in 28 days on Red Digital Cinema cameras with effects done largely practically. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 88 percent from 48 reviews. Film Threat gave it a perfect score; The Guardian's reviewer gave three stars out of five and noted the director's assured command of style. It won Best Film in the New Flesh competition at the Fantasia International Film Festival and Best Picture and Best Director at Fantastic Fest 2021. It arrived on Shudder in May 2022. Who it is for: almost nobody. Who it is not for: in practice most viewers. Treat this as a warning: the film shows sexual violence and torture in detail, at a dose unusual even within its genre.