Saint Maud
Like a lot of horror from the past decade, Saint Maud is at heart a short film, stretched well beyond what its premise can support. But in the hands of experienced short film writer/director Rose Glass, making her feature debut, it’s difficult to see the material succeeding even in a condensed form.
Yet another religious zealot movie with little to add to the well-worn sub-genre, the saga of young British nurse Maud (Morfydd Clark, Love & Friendship) is a pointless, exhausting exercise in delusion and cruelty, elevated by a few striking images that falsely inflate its worth.
Despite those fleeting, promising moments and a score that blatantly apes the creepy strings from Under the Skin, Glass’ film doesn’t really qualify as horror. It’s more of a mental illness drama with blips of terror that may or may not be real, and the thinly drawn characters, basic conflicts, and one-dimensional performances discourage anything but a tenuous connection to the proceedings.
Sluggish to a fault, Saint Maud spends undue attention on its protagonist caring for hospice patient Amanda (Jennifer Ehle) and Maud’s sudden obsession with saving the heathen’s soul before she dies.
What follows is a serious of repetitions, tediously overstating its simplest, most obvious, and least interesting details while glossing over the most intriguing elements, practically all of which have to do with Maud’s past and how she became an extremist.
If it was told with any consistent visual prowess, perhaps the plodding narrative might have been slightly more redeeming. But beyond the supernatural sights, the film features average production value with Glass assuming that turning the camera upside down amounts to a groundbreaking achievement.
Nevertheless, there’s decent mystery in wondering whether Maud is crazy or truly on a mission from God, yet when the final shot provides an answer, there’s also an instant wish for uncertainty to return, solidifying the film as a near complete bungle.
Grade: D. Rated R. Available to rent via Epix
(Photo: A24)
