Saint Maud Movie Review

Flagellation, madness, sexuality... and then I went to the cinema. Oh ho ho! Do you see what I did there? Yeah, I'm embarassed by it too.

by Tom Davies
Movies & TV Shows Review

17

Recommended
Saint Maud Movie Review

“Elevated Horror” is a rather unpleasant and condescending term for a very nebulous type of film. A film in which a slow build of psychological trauma is favoured over the jump-scares and orchestral stings of most commercial horror output. The not so subtle connotations of “horror…but good” have made the phrase the target of derision but in Saint Maud it somehow feels appropriate. Mainly because the film appears to thoroughly buy in to the concept, relying on a word-for-word recitation of the “elevated horror playbook”. Using some of these conventions can make for a great character-driven horror movie. Saint Maud, the story of a modern Margery Kempe employs all of these conventions, sometimes leaing towards disappointingly rote execution.

Maud (Morfydd Clark) works in palliative care. Following a hinted-at troubled past and a crucial tipping point, she has found God in a big way and now looks after the infirm both as an act of kindness and in the hopes of ‘saving’ them before they finally pass on. Her latest charge, Amanda Kohl (Jennifer Ehle), is an ailing dancer with terminal cancer; a woman famed for a hedonistic devotion to her art with a cruel sense of humour. Through her very “close encounters” with God, Maud comes to the conclusion that the defining act of her life must be a deathbed conversion of Amanda and she will stop at nothing to achieve it.

 

...demonstrates a glint of a great filmmaker in development

First time writer/director Rose Glass has gold dust in her hands by placing the story of a medieval mystic into a modern setting. Her ascetic lifestyle, isolation and the intimately physical manifestations of her communication with the divine instantly lend effectively heightened disparity with modern social attitudes, creating an instantly believable pariah. From this point, Glass is able to explore the concepts of faith and freedom for women in the modern world. It’s something that’s played with through the relationship between Maud and Amanda. It’s also something that’s plonked down in large chunks through Maud’s internal monologue. It’s the type of script that could be an engaging portrait of a troubled mind or a hard slog through wordy ponderings. Glass admirably manages to hit the notes of the former, but also succumbs to an equal amount of the latter.

Ehle’s performance as the terminally ill Amanda is subtle, cruel and tragic. Her exhaustion brings real emotional weight to her desperate clutching at the exciting, driven life she used to lead. In contrast to this, Morfydd Clark gives Maud a restrained, matter-of-fact, performatively timid charm. It works superbly in the scenes at Amanda’s house and when Maud is visited by an ex-colleague but becomes a little too purposefully flat without someone to play against. It’s possible to get distracted by wondering how much one might miss if the script was completely cut from a scene.

Saint Maud
It is the power of Christ that compels you...to watch this film! Why haven't I been hired by a PR firm yet?

The film seems aware of this heavy reliance on narration, trying to compensate for it in the shooting, editing and score, all of which go two steps too far to say, “heightened realism!” A mournful cello (or bass, I don’t know instruments) discordantly punctuates scenes first filmed on their side, then upside down. The muted colours of Maud’s life are disrupted by the flashing lights of the seaside arcades. Strange weather patterns are seen by Maud and no one else. Shots of narrow alleyways or from the vignette point of view of a tourist telescope transition into shots of her tiny apartment or crowded public spaces. Facial expressions are distorted at moments of extreme emotion. All of these techniques demonstrate a clear understanding of how to create an uneasy atmosphere, in the right doses, but Saint Maud goes overboard in its ‘throw everything’ approach. It reveals too clearly the intent behind the decisions instead of allowing the audience to absorb it slowly, seemingly very concerned that you might not get it.

There's a bold structural turn halfway through the film too which works to imbue Maud with renewed purpose but gets there through what seems to be a slightly meandering digression. A meandering digression in an 85 minute runtime.

 

...goes overboard in its ‘throw everything’ approach

What the film gets absolutely right, however, is the troubling depiction of religious fervour. Maud’s visions always find overlap between elements of supernatural intervention and insanity so that for a final act sting, you’re still willing to entertain the possibility that her experiences might somehow be real. It demonstrates a glint of a great filmmaker in development and is cemented in the film’s final moments with an image that is sure to be burned into your mind long after you leave the cinema.

Margery Kempe, to call back to the introduction, was a mystic in the 14th century. She was a woman who dictated for publication her revelations of being in love with Christ and her time traveling religious visions. Her experiences were akin to a mixture of sexual ecstasy and inconsolable grief and she would frequently disrupt sermons in church with her mystical thrashing and wailing.  The ambition to take this blurring between madness and religious devotion and to place it into the character of a modern young woman is laudable. Sadly, the ambition in the film is never quite matched by the skills employed to tell the story, but Rose Glass is a director to keep your eye on.

Scores

Verdict

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8

8
AVForumsSCORE
OUT OF
10

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