What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedThe Sadness
Rob Jabbaz · Film · 2021
If you loved The Sadness, start with Happiness (Han Sang-un, 2021) — a series on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 1 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to The Sadness across media.
If The Sadness hooked you, it is because you are drawn to stories where sudden societal collapse exposes the visceral fragility of human morality.
Books on the same thread
Blindness
José Saramago · Book · 1999
Shares a thread with The Sadness: Moral Decay.
Like the rapid descent into depravity seen in The Sadness, this narrative explores how quickly civil order disintegrates and how easily humanity surrenders to cruelty under extreme existential pressure.
The Road
Cormac McCarthy · Book · 2007
Explores: Parent-child bond, Moral ambiguity, Existential dread.
Much like the desperate struggle for survival in The Sadness, this story forces characters to navigate a ruined landscape where the loss of humanity is a constant, haunting threat.
The Plague
Albert Camus · Book · 1991
Explores: Existentialism, Absurdism, Mortality.
This work mirrors the societal breakdown found in The Sadness, offering a philosophical examination of how individuals maintain their resolve when a plague fundamentally alters the world around them.
The Grinding
Matt Dinniman · Book · 2013
Explores: Collective consciousness, Infection horror, Existential dread.
If the infection-driven horror of The Sadness gripped you, this story provides a similar focus on the terrifying physical transformation of the collective and the resulting urban catastrophe.
Series on the same thread
Happiness
Han Sang-un · Series · 2021
Explores: Quarantine, Class Warfare, Survival.
This series captures the claustrophobic tension of The Sadness by trapping distinct groups in a quarantine zone where the fear of infection exacerbates existing societal conflicts and moral decay.
Podcasts on the same thread
The Minds of Madness - True Crime Stories
Podcast
Explores: violent crime, impact on survivors, criminal minds.
The Sadness explores the darkest impulses of the human mind, and this podcast offers a similarly unflinching psychological analysis of the violent, disturbing acts that people are capable of committing.
The Truth
The Truth · Podcast · 2026
Explores: human condition, experimental storytelling, moral ambiguity.
This anthology mirrors the shocking, unpredictable nature of The Sadness, delivering intense short-form narratives that force you to confront the unsettling depths of the human condition in extreme scenarios.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is The Sadness based on a book or comic series?
The Sadness is an original film written and directed by Rob Jabbaz. There is no source material or adaptation history for this movie, so it does not have any book or comic counterparts to compare against.
What is the primary conflict driving the plot of The Sadness?
The plot of The Sadness centers on a young couple attempting to reunite during a pandemic. As the infection spreads, the streets descend into extreme violence and depravity, forcing the characters to test the limits of their sanity while navigating the chaos.
How are the infected depicted in The Sadness?
In The Sadness, those infected by the pandemic are driven to enact the most cruel and ghastly acts imaginable. The film focuses on the resulting breakdown of society as these individuals engage in widespread violence and depravity throughout the city.
Does The Sadness feature a pandemic outbreak?
Yes, the narrative of The Sadness is set amid a pandemic outbreak. This viral event serves as the catalyst for the social collapse and the extreme, violent behavior displayed by the infected population throughout the duration of the film.