Mads is a simulated single-take French horror film (on Shudder) and If I were rating it only on its technical prowess, it’d get a much better rating. But rating it on how it fills its time as a one shot film is a problem.

Mads is about one very bad night of partying and survival and figuring out what the heck is going on. A young man high on everything navigates his way through a crazy party scene while it becomes increasingly clear that something bad is going on just out of sight.

This flick is trading in a particular horror genre but it takes over half the movie for the shoe to drop. I’m not gonna say what’s going on but it’ll feel a little familiar while still being open for interpretation. The people the camera follow are just average folk who aren’t clued in on the big picture so we, the audience, are just as lost. We see and hear just enough to deduce it for ourselves.

The film’s single take gimmick must have taken a hell of a time to coordinate, block, and shoot and it gets a ton of credit for doing that on a low budget. It often begs the question though WHY its going for a single take as far as the story goes.

It’s also not technically a found footage film, but it kind of feels like it anyway. Probably due to the lo-fi grunge of the image. On the plus side, at least we don’t have to spend the movie wondering who’s holding the camera and why.

My main problem with the film is that it spends too much time moving from place to place, especially in a dire third act where I just wanted them to get to the point. It’s borderline disastrous but the film eventually finds its way to a relatively satisfying finale. But wow does it ever spin its wheels.

I’m giving it a low 3 star rating and that’s with a bump for how effective its real-time single take camera is. I was curious about “what’s really going on” but eventually the film runs out the clock and keeps muddling on. Not a big fan of the single take when they can’t figure out what to fill it with.

Score: 76