Rent Saint Maud (2019)

Tremendous. - Saint Maud review by NP

At first I was reticent about watching ‘Saint Maud’. A horror film concerning a terminally ill woman seemed too depressing (and too reality-based) a premise for my liking. Jennifer Ehle plays Amanda Köhl, and it is true she enlists the help of her ‘little saviour’ Maud (Morfydd Clark) to look after her through her final weeks and days – but that’s only part of the story.

The inclusion of Maud’s strict religious beliefs also sounded alarm bells for me. All too often, religious types are presented as fanatics, perverts and/or murderers, and that is a plot point I find not only predictable but lazy in its exploiting of an ‘easy target’. Amanda mocks the idea of religious belief, but there’s no laziness here. None of the characters are black and white; with the aid of clever writing and exemplary playing, you believe in them entirely - but none of them are predictable or easy to like. Things are more complex than that.

Despite my misgivings – misgivings that reinforce the belief that it’s best to go into any film blind – I absolutely loved ‘Saint Maud’. In this astonishing debut feature Rose Glass has created a world within a world – a world of abject loneliness and exclusion, of the fragility of human beings and the casual unkindness of others. Not that Maud is easy to sympathise with – initially she is pious and judgemental, but then, we are all flawed. Amanda wants to live her last days as a reflection of her exotic past, whereas by all accounts she was, as the departing nurse at the beginning of the film points out, ‘a bit of a c***.’

Most of the location filming took place in Scarborough, I was delighted realise (it’s a favourite place of mine) although – apart from the giveaway ‘Coney Island’ gambling emporium – many of the background details are blurred out, giving the impression that this is just another seaside town.

This won’t appeal to everyone. CGI lovers and jump-scare addicts may not find enough to hold their attention, but this is about saturation levels of mood, atmosphere and a very definite weirdness. I look forward to seeing more of Rose Glass’s productions. My score is 9 out of 10.

Recommended - Saint Maud review by GI

An atmospheric, ominous horror psychodrama with two stunning central performances. This is how a good horror film should be, a slow build up to something quite terrifying with clear disturbing signals along the way. Morfydd Clark plays Maud, a young nurse who has recently found God and lives a pious life believing the she can hear God through her prayers. She is sent to the isolated seaside home of Amanda (Jennifer Ehle), a once celebrated dancer and now dying of cancer. Maud's duties include cooking, cleaning and generally caring for Amanda who can be very prickly and difficult. Maud comes to believe that God wants her to save Amanda's soul, a tormented process that gradually pushes Maud to extremes. This is all told in a taut, visually impressive film with Amanda's hilltop house resembling a gothic haunted country retreat and Maud appearing to be a timid loner but who is slowly descending into madness. Her attempts at retaining normality instantly fail and the film moves inexorably to a quite horrific climax. British horror has a long history and when it's good, it's damn good and this is a fresh, impressive and disturbing addition to the genre. Recommended.

Okay but very conventional - Saint Maud review by TE

An absorbing study of extreme religious mania, though ultimately it is played for conventional scare tactics rather than any serious interest in mental health.

The film is sustained by an excellent performance by Morfydd Clark as the demented, damaged nurse. She is on screen in pretty much every frame and her disintegration is credible and, at times, moving.

Scarborough is the setting and the town's mixture of garish light and sodden bleakness feed into the film's oppressive atmosphere.

It's good to see William Blake's imagery placed at the centre of a contemporary movie, but once again this is played for cheap threat rather than making any links between the images and Maud's mental state.

This is a good film in many ways, but if this is the cutting edge of horror movies then the genre is in trouble. It is full of standard cliches: projectile vomiting, orgasmic spirit possession, a big house on a hill, and, worst of all, an all-too easy use of constant darkness that makes it hard to see what is going on.

Mental health exploitation - Saint Maud review by HM

Eternal Beauty was about a girl suffering Schizophrenia but the film lacked a storyline of any interest and seemed pointless. This film is more engaging, but is Schizophrenia a fit subject for exploitation? Not for me. The film doesn't shine any light on the condition, just uses it as a means of telling a horror story of a girl's descent into self deluded madness. Voices in her head convince her of her need to please 'God'. Schizophrenia is an illness deserving better treatment than this. It puts a sufferer into a horror genre for shocks rather than exploration. A shallow motive for a film really, so 'exploitation' is the way I read it. However, if you like sadistic films about medical conditions, go ahead!

Having said all that it has momentum and is well constructed. Up to you if you want to risk this unpleasent treatment of the subject

bold - Saint Maud review by robin

As powerful a statement and portrayal of mental health as I've seen...don't really want to say more.. however.. ..................shame it has to be labelled horror or phycological drama cos it not either....it's a bold statement that's handled with empathy and care........well styled though I thought the locations could have been 'used' more...

Atmospheric and intelligent study of religious obsession - Saint Maud review by BW

Very well acted and constructed film that toys with genres. The gloomy house on the hill suggests a formulaic horror plot but much greater complexity develops around ideas of religious obsession and mental illness. Set aside your expectations from publicity or posters and let the story develop.

Subtly intelligent filmmaking and a completely convincing central performance.

Isolation blues - Saint Maud review by CS

“Forgive my impatience, but I hope you will reveal your plan for me soon. I can't shake the feeling that you must have saved me for something greater than this.”

Saint Maud (2021) explores what might occur when hardcore religion takes over your perception of the world and how completely detaching from reality can result in calamity ...

Katie (played by the immense Morfydd Clark, who manages to switch convincingly between a righteous pious carer and a deeply disturbed promiscuous misanthrope) has a life changing experience while trying to save a dying patient, converting to Roman Catholicism and changing her name to Maud. She goes to work for a private care agency and becomes responsible for Amanda (Jennifer Ehle) a retired hedonistic dancer/ choreographer who is in the latter stages of Lymphoma, needing palliative care. Amanda’s carefree and ever-hedonistic attitude, accentuated by her impending death, both fascinate and disgust Maud, who while happily peeping at Amanda entertaining her lesbian lover also feels that God has sent her to “save” Amanda’s soul so instructs the girl to leave her alone. Maud, consumed by her religion, further alienates herself from society.

Saint Maud is primarily about the dangers of feeling isolated, and the carnage that can come when an individual’s perception of reality becomes dangerously warped. The audience is left guessing at just how far Maud has gone within her own delusion, and this is the underlying theme of much of this film's tense, dark atmosphere.

Indeed, Maud is a deeply disturbed young woman who experiences transcendental spiritual moments regularly and - like all good penance-seeking Roman Catholics - indulges in self-flagellation and self-harm: burns and pins in her shoes show her devotion to God and she looks down on those who partake in the more simplistic pleasures of life. Ironically and disturbingly, Maud spends her free time as an aggressively predatory female, having one-night-stands and sexual contact with random men in the pubs she frequents because she doesn’t know an alternative way to connect, returning to her depressing flat consumed by feelings of dirtiness and disgrace.

This is director Rose Glass’ first ever feature length film, and it’s impressively handled in terms of cinematography, mixing magical realism with almost a documentary feel at times and the impressively dark score also contributes to the feelings of claustrophobia the film generates as the audience gets to know too much disturbing information about the main protagonist. The first two thirds of the film resemble an unsettling Ken Loach style kitchen sink drama, the final third builds logically towards the ultimately aptly scorching ending. I was reminded of the Polanski classic “Repulsion“ at times, which is no bad thing ...