'Saint Maud' is a story that follows Maud, a young woman working as a nurse, who, after having recently devoted herself to Christianity, takes on as her goal saving the soul of her ward Amanda.
The film follows Maude, showing her quiet and reclusive lifestyle in a dilapidated studio apartment. She sets off to care for Amanda, and ex-dancer that has been ravaged by cancer and Maude assists her in providing palliative care. Maud slowly becomes obsessed with the notion that it is her duty to save Amanda's soul. She gets rid of the liquor in the house and tries to distance Amanda from Carol, Amanda's romantic partner whom she pays. During their time together Amanda plays into Maud's ideas, and entertains her idea of accepting God. However, during Amanda's birthday party, Maude is confronted about her doings, and criticised by Amanda towards her fantasies of acting like a saint. After striking her, Maud is fired and returns to her apartment, going out on occasion and abandoning her pious way of life.
After hitting rock bottom, she has an experience after which she is convinced to return to Amanda to save her. On confronting her, Amanda is clear in her scepticism towards religion and Maud proceeds to stab her multiple times after envisioning Amanda as a demon embodied. Afterwards, she is shown heading to the beach where she douses herself in ammonia and sets herself on fire. The final scene of the film shows the event from Maud's perspective, where she ascends to heaven after having completed her earthly duty, as opposed to a quick jump-cut to the view of the bystanders who witness her screaming in agony as the flames envelop her.
The film is a thought-provoking exploration of the personal struggle and ideas of Maud, someone who has experienced trauma in the past, due to a medical incident at her work as a nurse. She devotes her life to Christianity and sets it as her goal not only to provide care as a nurse, but also becomes obsessed with saving her wards soul. Maud's attachment to religion can be viewed as her discovering a new purpose in life after her incident that had left her hurt and broken, without anything to lean on, having to cope with what has happened on her own. Religion provides a sense of support and stability to her, however, Maud takes her devotion to an extreme, following its guidelines and obsessing over doing the right thing.
Maud is shown to see things that the audience may perceive as illusions, only experienced by her, putting the girls sanity into question. At times, the tone of the film suggests a presence there, perhaps even a malevolent one, yet after Maud's actions, as when she kills Amanda or sets herself on fire, we are presented with what she perceives as real and what is actually there. Maud killing Amanda and self-immolating is viewed by her as her path to salvation, as she saves Amanda's soul and is granted a pair of wings which leads to her ascension to heaven after killing herself.
From the outside, Maud is a girl troubled, isolated and without an outlet for her frustrations and unable to deal with her past. Attaching herself to religion has granted her a purpose, thereby circumventing the need for any other personal connections. Her circumstance can be pitted however, as she has taken on a task that her ward does not care for in a society that has by and large moved away from religion and the rules contained therein. The film goes on to suggest that Maud's chosen path becomes an obsession as the girl devotes herself to trying her best, abiding by the tenants set in the religious text, yet is plagued by doubt as she experiences the demonic vision of Amanda.
Her journey's conclusion can be approached dually, - from her point of view and from the outside. Maud sees herself as having done God's work, satisfied in having achieved her purpose and happy to leave this earth. From the outside she has committed an atrocity followed by a gruesome and agonising way to expire. The duality of the film's conclusion allows us to pity Maud in how far she has gone down the dark road, and what she has done along the way, whilst at the same time we are confronted by the grisly reality of what has transpired.
Morfydd Clark portrays Maud, a lonely and lost girl that has taken it upon herself to create a purpose for herself, leaning on religion to provide guidance in her journey. Clark delivers a character that can be both disliked and pitied, providing a multitude of reasons to feel sorry for her and to despise her actions. Well cast for the role, Clark portrays Maud as a truly lost soul with an element of deep disappointment and bitterness attached to her personality.
Jennifer Ehle plays Amanda, the minor celebrity ex-dancer now indisposed due to terminal lymphoma. She plays a bitter and somewhat angry character, but Ehle manages to deliver a more than a sad terminally ill individual. She exhibits a multi-faceted person that is trying to get the most out of life before her time is up - inviting around a romantic partner, drinking on occasion and throwing a birthday party. Her persona is not shown to be vapid however, as Ehle portrays Amanda as a person strongly opposed to belief in a god or religion.
The film is written and directed by Rose Glass in her feature directorial debut, and the film-maker has created a movie that exudes a dark and chilling tone, in large part due to the masterfully delivered characters that exhibit uninviting tendencies and are focused on their personal drives. The tone of the film is dire and shifts to frightening on occasion, sustaining a deeply engrossing and frightening experience through the films runtime.
'Saint Maud' is a film that makes us question the nature of one's own reality. When we are isolated and become obsessed with finding support and comfort in something, the resulting emotional dependence on it can lead to horrific things. The film allows us to view reality from the outside as Amanda provides the voice of scepticism and causes Maud to experience struggle in her faith.
The film provides both a character to be pitied as it follows and explores Maud's beliefs, emotions and convictions and a horrific presentation that deep devotion and dependence on something can lead to obsession, resulting in creating terrifying situations and leading to gruesome actions. A truly intimidating story, 'Saint Maud' lingers after its conclusion and invites the viewer to consider the many aspects of the ending of the story.
Score: 3/4
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