Saint Maude (Rose Glass, 2019); UK

Reviewed by Ian Overton. Viewed at AFI festival 2019.

Entering the Theater with little to no knowledge concerning the film or the previous works of the debut director Rose Glass, Saint Maude is a film I won’t forget. Between it’s demented main character played by the brilliant Morfydd Clark and disturbing imagery, the film has carved itself as an essential of contemporary horror.

For the midnight showing at the AFI Film Festival in Hollywood, I arrived at the cozy Chinese Theater ready for the conventional jump scares that have become so ingrained within the genre. However what Rose Glass had delivered was far from conventional as shots of the bleak British Coastline create the sensation that you are entering a Ghost Town. Cinematographer Ben Fordesman, known for his previous work on the now hit success End of the F**king World, sticks to his guns in low contrast close up shots delivering a sense of unease. Nuanced performance by Jennifer Ehle (Zero Dark Thirty) and her counterpart Morfydd Clark (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) create an ambiguity in the right and wrong of the film, of what is good and what is evil.

The film opens with blood, the heavy breathing of Maude as she sits in the infirmary drenched looking skyward for answers. This scene proves to be the catalyst for the religious zealot we see develop throughout the film and the basis for the Flagellate esque actions we see her partake in. Taking on a care taking job for the ailing Amanda (Jennifer Ehle), the hedonistic smoking, drinking, and Lesbian relationship she indulges in sets the stage for Maude’s quest, to save the soul of Amanda. Following an inverted Hero’s Journey, Saint Maude grapples questions of sexual repression, submission vs. self-indulgence, and faith. Throughout the film Maude’s orgasmic like revelations with her God, supernatural experiences, and isolation leave the audience wondering if in this twisted world created by Glass are her experiences real?  Is she communing with God or the Devil? Or is it all one grand delusion? Through post production editing by Mark Towns (The Ritual) the ending, just like the film itself, remains open and ambiguous to the truth. It is up to us, the audience, to decide what is truth. 

Atmosphere plays an integral part in the movie, the low saturation with dreary overtones instills a sense of hopelessness. Expertly utilizing setting and mise-en-scene, this is where Glass and her production designer Paulina Rezeszowska (The Party) really deliver their punches. The foggy English coast at night. A blatant emblem of vice and corruption in the out of place Coney Island carnival sign. The laconic room of Maude screaming her unsettled and disturbing mindset. The film wants you to feel uncomfortable, lost, and uncertain.

In line with films such as Hereditary (Ari Aster) and The Witch (Robert Eggers), Saint Maude carves itself as an essential in the contemporary horror niche. Rose Glass in a Q&A after the screening stated that she modeled the main character after the iconic Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver (Martin Scorcese). Maude’s complete dissolution with a corrupt society and search for her own truth reflects this statement. For Travis it was a crisis of identity and for Maude it was a crisis of faith.

Saint Maude delivers on everything it promises to be, gritty, abrasive, and shocking. Coming from film distributor A24, it falls in line with the works of Ari Aster and Robert Eggers all the while retaining its own identity. This movie is not a happy one and anyone expecting sunshine and roses should beware, for this film is tortuous and defiling. It blasphemes much like The Exorcist (William Friedkin) and is a must see for horror lovers.