Fantastic Fest Review: ‘Mad God’

Where to start with Mad God…

Perhaps the best way to begin is to inform readers that this film is not for the squeamish. It’s a sensory nightmare.

There is no distinct plot to describe. In a nutshell, an anonymous bell diver is dropped into a multi-layered apocalyptic wasteland in search of a mysterious location marked on a crumbling map. The diver navigates a treacherous world of inconceivable creatures and horrors throughout the journey.

Director Phil Tippett gives his collection of short films (also titled Mad God) the feature-length treatment in this descent into industrial hell. Tippett is the mastermind behind the visual effects of many iconic films. His career began when he handled the stop motion animation for A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back and has since supervised creature designs for other films like Starship Troopers, DragonHeart and Jurassic Park. Tippett had spent the last 30 years working on Mad God while churning out style-defining work.

Examining Our Institutions

The result is an expressionistic film that takes an unfiltered, uncompromising magnifying glass to a world that reflects our own. Chaos rules in this domain. There is no distinct order to anything beyond pain and labor. Faceless, zombie-like rag doll humanoids are born to engage in back-breaking labor. Many of them simply march forward to their demise, their backs hunched, heads down, literally burning out from their existence. This death march is reminiscent of not just all exploited workers but specifically those working in dangerous factory conditions.

Photo courtesy of Fantastic Fest

The best example one can come up with, and it’s likely this is because I am currently taking a Food and Culture anthropology class, is the conditions within slaughterhouses. Slaughterhouses are notoriously dangerous places to work. People have lost fingers, crushed limbs and have been permanently maimed for the sake of keeping the chain going. A large proportion of these people are undocumented, making them easier to exploit and easier to steal their voices. None of the laborers in Mad God even so much as whimper from their torture. Not even when some of them are disintegrated by flying debris. Because the chain must keep moving no matter what.

Tippett’s depiction of the social ladder as he climbs it is even more striking. Reality has its own institutionalized creatures making sure the line keeps moving, and so does the world of Mad God. The faceless are the powerless, uniform in their silence. The creatures, varying in design and size, are right with the rag-dolls to ensure they never stop. They carry whips and dole out bone-crushing punishment to any that even remotely break formation. Loyalty does not appear to be something that exists within the context of the film, besides the loyalty towards one’s function. Their function is born out of cruelty, the master of the world of Mad God.

Multi-Layered Apocalypse

The stop-motion will be what most people will remember and for good reason. There’s a plethora of upsetting imagery involving grotesque monsters, sexual content and violence. But as was proclaimed at the beginning of this review, it’s a general assault on the senses. The sound design is shudder-worthy. Sounds of monsters clicking as they walk on spider-legs or feces splashing against a wall will be enough to make one cringe. It can be overwhelming when all these elements are combined together in a way that may turn viewers off. Rest in peace to your ears if you watch this with headphones.

Photo courtesy of Fantastic Fest

The bell diver is put in an interesting position. They themselves are but a means to someone else’s end, yet they don’t directly participate in any of the horrors taking place. Despite bearing witness to numerous atrocities they keep their head down, turning away from anything not directly involving them. But even if they were to help, what could they really do? The same institutions would still exist and the world would be ultimately unchanged. All they can worry about is their own task. It’s a bleak takeaway from a bleak film.

There is no denying the experience that comes with watching this, however. It’s an unsettling portrayal of society’s institutions that threaten to rip apart our bodies and rob us of our identity. If Mad God is essentially a giant factory, everything else is cogs with other cogs making sure everyone stays in line. It’s so severely layered that one wonders just how did all of this start.

Follow Justin on Twitter @r0cketman3 for live Fantastic Fest coverage.