Saint Maud, the debut feature written and directed by Rose Glass, is a taut psychological horror film which explores the main character’s recent devotion to the Christian God and her unravelling mental state as she tends to the care of a terminal patient as a live-in nurse. Unburdened by lengthy and superfluous exposition, the clever and eery script is paired with a real visual flair in the telling of Maud’s dangerous slip into psychosis after leaving her job at a hospital following a traumatic experience.
Leaning heavily on the lead performance by Morfydd Clark, Saint Maud compels the audience to empathise with the character, as she misguidedly pins all her hope on a fairly one-sided relationship with God, with whom she believes she can converse and feel close by. The harrowing depiction of Maud’s faith is challenged by her cancer ridden charge, Amanda (Jennifer Ehle), who continues to drink, smoke and indulge her sexual appetites, all of which the young nurse finds disquieting and, in her own words, a “waste of time”. As tension mounts throughout the film, Maud eventually comes to see herself as a righteous angel, tasked with saving Amanda’s soul by God or, more likely, her own delusions.
The tight script does a lot of the work in exposing the audience to these unhealthy notions of salvation and Christian responsibility, as much of it is recounted by Maud in narration through the act of prayer. Subtle visual effects further develop our understanding of the character’s mental illness, used fleetingly throughout the film in order to signpost towards what is a devastating final act.
At just over 80 minutes, the filmmaker maintains impressive control over the narrative and marks herself as a talent to look out for in the future. By the end, Saint Maud has taken the audience on a journey which the protagonist hopes will end in a feeling of contented salvation, though unfortunately more resembles a descent into hell.
5/5
Get Ya Shinebox Reviews 