Come for the intriguing look at the effect of isolation and dogmatism on the mind of a trouble woman, stay for the body horror and impressive projectile vomiting
A film I expected a lot about, but unfortunately it was another piece of nonsense. As for the story, it was quite good as far as madness and faith can catch up, but that's all that this film has to offer. The whole film is waiting for what will happen, but it's nothing but a desire to finally end this boring film, which has nothing to do with horror. A big disappointment for me.
Disturbing and makes you feel unseasy with creepy moments and well directing.Another good result from A-24 6.7/10
Do not watch this crap... so boring. Staring at a wall would have been more enjoyable. Maybe Jesus freaks would be into this but if you are sane, stay away lol.
Not at all what I expected and that is a good thing. It's an unsettling, creepy drama, and more a tale of religious obsession that out and out horror.
A unique film, that portrays a delirious state of mind, resulting from obsession, by creating a thoroughly terrifying atmosphere. The incredible acting, directing and sound design made for an engaging watch, although the pacing of the plot was a bit awkward at times.
This movie could've been good. But it turned out to be mediocre at best.
How can this only have a 66% positive rating?! I'd put it up there with Martyrs, Babadook and Hereditary as one of the best horror films of recent years. Superb direction, and performance by Morfydd Clark. An unnerving portrayal of an extremely unhinged individual; her past is left deliberately unclear but the scars and flashbacks imply serious mental illness. Needless to say, finding religion doesn't help and isolates her further. As others have said, it's like a Carrie in reverse and there's a definite conjuring of Margaret White (Piper Laurie) in Maud's intense performance. The final shocking scene repeats a familiar conceit; the disconnect between Maud's hopeless fantasies and the horrific and raw reality of her predicament.
A really strong debut! It projects the struggle and emptiness of the main actor in a very unsettling way. I liked the heavy religious theme throughout the movie. I can see myself watching this again in the future.
3 Thoughts After Watching ‘Saint Maud’:
Well that was awfully bleak and depressing...
I was never bored, but I was hoping for more. Highlights include a fairly creepy score, Morfydd Clark’s performance, and a solid jump scare towards the end.
Was Maud truly given a test of faith? Or did we simply witness the mental breakdown of a very lonely and troubled woman? I’m gonna go with the latter, but I wish the answer was a liiiiiiitle less ambiguous.
I didn't think much of it, nothing much happened, was expecting more and didn't think highly of the ending.
A chilling look into the mind of a hyperreligious epileptic.
Maud seemed to experience focal aware seizures (spontaneous orgasms/post-ictal euphoria, hyper-religiosity, complex auditory and visual hallucinations, affective change, aggression) and a generalized tonic-clonic seizure (when she saw the fireworks outside her window).
Unfortunately, Maud's internal monologues got a bit trite after a certain point.
Good performances. Effective sound design. Overall, an impressive directorial feature film debut for Rose Glass.
On the surface, Saunt Maud appears to be more complex than it actually is. Though, at first, that sounds like criticism, unexpected simplicity can be quite refreshing amid modern cinema's oft convoluted pretense. At the heart of the story, viewers need to ask themselves "can I trust the narrator?" The answer to that question reveals the film's true nature: that it's a story about mental illness disguised as a supernatural encounter. Rose Glass' wonderful writing and directing paired with Morfydd Clark's (Maud) subdued, yet powerful performance make way for a unique take on an old conversation.
At times the references and sources of inspiration are tangiable. But not to worry. It's a good story told in a most thrilling manner.
I think Maud went a little bit off the deep end.
Saint Maud asks the question, if someone had strong religious beliefs, how would they tell supernatural experiences apart from psychotic delusions? Answer: You can't. And you're a danger to yourself, and others.
While I can appreciate Saint Maud for being maybe the only religious horror movie I can think of that isn't a Satanic story, it stumbles along the way.
The movie is totally a slow burn. That is to say, the first half is so slow I thought about stopping the movie and coming back when I had the patience. I pushed on, and the second half of the movie is where it really picks up.
There's not too much to say about Saint Maud. It's a typical A24 movie; it's going to appeal more to an arthouse audience.
This is very much a psychological horror movie, but there are some effective scares toward the end.
Overall, I liked this, but it took far too long to become interesting. The film looks amazing, the acting is great, and the score is the creepiest part. I'd probably like this more after another viewing.
Emotionally ambiguous, thematically complex, aesthetically daring – an exceptionally accomplished directorial debut
The disparity between what a fanatic believes and what other people believe is the main issue examined in Saint Maud, the stunning debut feature from writer/director Rose Glass. Part-horror, part-psychological thriller, part-character drama, part-ecclesiastical treatise, Saint Maud can be read in a variety of ways – an analysis of the interaction between faith and self; a threnody for the life of a young woman suffering a mental breakdown; a drama about loneliness; a study of the importance of friendship; a tale of possession; a tragedy about the frailty of the human body. Told mainly (although not entirely) from the perspective of a fanatical Christian, the story makes room for the possibility that, however unlikely, such fanaticism isn't mental illness at all and that God really is communicating with this person. And this magnificently handled ambiguity is the film's trump card. Disturbing, horrifying, challenging, unpredictable, emotional, and occasionally very funny, this is a film that forges a path entirely its own, and is as impressive and daring a directorial debut as you're ever likely to find.
For my complete review, please visit: https://boxd.it/11y2Wh
Very uncomfortable odd film. Lovely heart of the girl sticks to her mission. It’s a shame she is the one in need of care
One of those rare movies where the final 0.5 seconds re-contextualises everything.
another A24 horror movie that could've been just a short film.
There is an ambiguity in the representation of this character that is very interesting, especially in the first part of the film, in which the limit between psychological and real causes more chills than when it is clearly shown. Little by little, the story embraces the horror built from religious fanaticism and then the ambiguity is replaced by some common places and gimmicky scenes, which partly spoil the film.
Saint Maud is about... Holy shit!
"My Little Saviour"
Last movie I watched in cinemas before it closed again. Bloody corona! Anywhere...
‘Saint Maud’ is a new horror movie from A24 that was unfortunately advertise as something else.
New horror film
A24
Praised by critics
Hated by audiences
I think we all know the routine by now. I am aware that film is subjective, am just pointing out a familiar pattern.
While I wouldn’t say I was scared by Saint Maud, but it really did unnerve me to the point it felt kind of overwhelming. It builds up on the sinking dread rather than the next scare. So don’t just write this off as a simple horror movie, because it’s so much more than that. You could easily view this whole movie as a character study on Maud, the loneliness girl in the world. The fact that this is Rose Glass feature debut is more surreal than the movie itself.
For whatever reason, this reminded me of Brian De Palma’s 1976 film ‘Carrie’. Both movies are drama heavy character studies with a female lead, which so happen to be labelled as horror. And not forgetting the religious undertones throughout both films and the psychical effects it can have on you. A wild comparison, so let me leave it there.
This is a female driven movie, while all the men are a bunch of one note jackasses used only for sex. With this being a horror movie, it was a nice reverse in tropes.
Morfydd Clark delivers an excellent performance as Maud. Shifting between a wide range of emotions, such as delight, hopeless, and pain. Clark really made me feel sorry for the character. Jennifer Ehle, who is the type of actor that would always appear in everything and would often been mistaken for Meryl Streep, also delivers a great supporting performance.
The setting of the movie, taking place in England’s North Sea coast of Scarborough, where everything looks so damp, cold, and unkind. Despite all that, the cinematography from Ben Fordesman made use of the lighting by making the whole thing visually appealing, not only in colours, but lights and shadows.
The frightening score by Adam Janota Bzowski made the tense scenes feel incredibly claustrophobic than it already was; sometimes the music will play in sync with the scene thanks to the great editing.
Religion plays a principal theme in the movie and relies heavily on psychological horror. Muad herself is extremely religious to a point it becomes unhealthy and alienating. To her, God is everywhere. He is around us. And if you’ve been a good little saint, you might feel him move inside of you. Or maybe if you pray hard enough, he will finally speak to you. But what will he sound like? If it’s your own voice that you can hear, does that destroy years of dedication worshiping a biblical character? Is religion another form of mental illness? Some many questions that will never get a straightforward answer. That’s life though. Don’t think about it too much, because it will drive you nuts!
The last frame of this movie was the most haunting thing I have seen this year. And it was only 1 second of frame.
Overall rating: Thank god for Morfydd Clark and Rose Glass.
Review by XiofireBlockedParent2021-02-06T00:12:15Z
Saint Maud joins the ranks of Hereditary, Midsommar, The Witch & The Lodge; a movie that is primarily a chilling drama with shades of horror throughout, a formula which has shown to be exponentially more frightening than the cheap thrills of yesteryear. Rather than easy scares and loud noises, Saint Maud focuses on the realism of it's protagonists struggles to paint a more horrific reality than any prosthetics or high decibels could create. If you are a fan of the new wave of horror, Saint Maud is unmissable. Rose Glass has easily secured herself amongst the ranks of Ari Aster and Robert Eggers in the horrorsphere with this beyond impressive debut. I look forward to whatever she works on next.
Musings and details I enjoyed [SPOILERS BELOW]:
The lighter is foreshadowed throughout the movie, from Maud idly playing with it along the sea front, to the party guest helping light the candles at Amanda's party. Every side character in this movie also smokes, something I'm struggling to land the exact symbolism of outside of the mentioned foreshadowing of the lighter.
Maud/Katie's descent into madness is shown via spirals/whirlwinds/tornados throughout the movie. Water is shown swirling down the plughole multiple times, a tornado appears in Katie's beer at the bar and obviously the opening in the sky during that scene.
Maud/Katie's past life and current life are kept very distinctly apart until the final scene when her ex-colleague comes to check if she's OK. We then see, as Maud/Katie looks out the window that her eyes are now different colours. Does this portray that her Katie and Maud personas are now one and she's fully succumbed to her religious delusions?
The movie flips the usual trope of women being objects of desire and sex by having all male characters be literal sex objects. Katie gives the guy at the pub a handjob, she sleeps with the guy who's beer she knocks over, and Amanda only has her male friend over at the start of the movie to drink and sleep with. Cool subversion of older tropes which isn't pointed to or overly highlighted.
The movie solidifies that all of this is a delusion in Katie's head with it's harrowing finale, but other details shown throughout also confirm that this is nothing more than a coping mechanism. For example, when God speaks to Maud, it's in a foreign tongue that I initially mistook for Latin, but it is actually Welsh. The actress who plays Maud is Welsh so it's not much of a stretch to assume that Maud herself is Welsh, confirming that God didn't actually speak to her, she was simply speaking to herself.
The movie asks a lot of questions about the validity of religion, as well as the support structures available to those who live through traumatic life events. It's terrifying to think that people out there could suffer with PTSD and have no one to turn to. Maud (like many others in real life) fell into religion as a coping mechanism for her pain. This movie is horrifying in the sense that I could see this really happening to someone. Being unable to deal with a life changing event, and instead projecting a higher purpose on yourself to try and run from the problem, ultimately leading to the destruction of others and yourself.
I enjoyed the parallels between Maud and Amanda's characters. Amanda has been told her life is abruptly coming to an end, while Maud is struggling to find any reason for her life to go on. Amanda is leading a life of frivolity and recklessness in a final blaze of glory, while Maud is attempting to lead a life of conservatism and modesty. Great dynamic to have, especially seeing as where the story takes these two characters.
Man, this movie has so much to unpack considering it's fairly brief 84 minute runtime :laughing: