[Film Review] Mad God (2021)

Mad God is a bleak, visually arresting journey into a world of madness, suffering and violence, filled with ‘Miltonesque’ monsters and villains. It follows The Assassin on his journey through a hellish landscape filled with nightmarish characters to plant a bomb behind enemy lines, and bear witness to the chaos he observes on his quest into a netherworld of horror.

In The Assassin we see an objective observer, who watches the various atrocities that take place in this subterranean hellscape, but doesn't intervene. This notion of objectivity, and of a lack of action is quite literally reflected throughout the film, where the character’s glasses are used as mirrors to reflect the horrors they witness back to the viewer. It acts as a stark reminder about the desire to look away, something we all indulge in. Due to the lack of dialogue, we are left to ponder on his purpose and indeed his motivations, as we are for all the characters included in the film,  adding an interesting air of ambiguity. Indeed, this is a film that will divide audiences, it is surreal and strange, with elements of the grotesque throughout, and there is a lack of driving narrative that some viewers may find frustrating. But it’s worth it, if not only to see the sheer amount of work that has gone into the creation of the world The Assassin wanders through. It’s a treat for the eyes, and a loving homage to the art of stop-motion animation. 

The imagery in Mad God is so surreal, so strangely affecting, that interpretations abound about what it may all mean. For me, it seemed that much of the film appears as an allegory for capitalism, with strange wire wool beings made solely to labour then be destroyed. Tippett also heavily references the role of fate, place and time, with the idea that some people are just set up to be felled early, whereas others have a different purpose. This pulls from various cultures and traditions, but I particularly enjoyed the three witches aspect, seeing them as a representation of that great tradition of The Fates, sewing together a map of life for the Assassin to follow. It’s also possible that this is a stop-animation interpretation of hell, seen through the Assassin’s eyes as his rusted, crumbling diving bell sinks deeper into the abyss, and indeed the film’s own creators have referenced Milton in their synopsis, making it easy to draw the comparison. We see war, capitalism and a visceral symbiotic relationship, in which everything  is cyclical and feeds everything else. This adds a complexity to the narrative and reminds the viewer that all these facets of society are interwoven, making a profound statement about the world we live in. It may appear at odds with the misshapen, fantastical world The Assassin travels through, but when examined more closely the allegorical nature of Mad God shouldn’t be dismissed so readily. There is such texture to Mad God, everything's sweaty, squelching, bloody and gross. You feel the voltage from the sparking wires, the heat from furnaces, imagining you can smell the stench of death and dripping walls. It has the vibe of post-apocalyptic steampunk and it is an assault on the senses from start to grim finish.  

To watch Mad God is to experience it, and I can’t say that it’s a film you would stick on one Friday night when you wanted to have a laugh and unwind. But there is a grisly majesty to it, one that is only further emphasised when you reflect on the fact that everything is handmade and it is filmed using that tortuously long (but worth it!) process of stop-animation. As all the promotion for the film reminds us, this is a project thirty years in the making, and it shows. There is a real sense of writer/producer/director Phil Tippett’s craft here, known for work on Robocop and Jurassic Park and passion for this style of filmmaking. It is clear that this is a labour of love, as well as a chance to spew forth all the dark and morbid thoughts that lurk within the human psyche. The style of the film is refreshingly distinct and there is a clear sense of tone throughout. That the tone is one of evisceration, torture and spindly terrors that lurk in the shadows is what makes it a fitting addition to Shudder’s catalogue. 

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