Saint Maud

Saint Maud

Director: Rose Glass. Cast: Morfydd Clark, Jennifer Ehle, Lily Knight

“Saint Maud” is almost the opposite of film about “demonic possessions” as it follows the breakdown of a young live-in nurse (a terrific performance by Morfydd Clark) as she becomes obsessed by her diving mission to save the soul of a terminally ill patient.Make no mistakes, this is a horror film right from the start, but beyond the scary and sinister images, the very creepy atmosphere and a few gruesome moments, “Saint Maud” is first and foremost a character study: a film about loneliness. It’s no secret that director Rose Glass was inspired by Taxi Driver: there’s a lot of that same sense of claustrophobia and psychological unease here. But watching it unfold I was also reminded of Carrie, or rather the mother in that film, another obsessive religious devotee who thinks she’s doing God’s work but actually she’s slowly descending to hell.As the mental breakdown of the young nurse becomes more and more apparent and she gets madder and madder, so is the visual style of the film-making, the camera moves and the soundtrack.I must confess I didn’t love the film as much as many critics did. I found the pace quite slow and a bit indulgent, also I also didn’t think the ending was as shocking as it should have been (especially since you know exactly where it’s all heading to, so there’s no really any surprise, or at least I wasn’t surprised), but there’s no denying that this is an impressive and stylish debut from a new British director which we must watch closely.