Written and directed by the incredible Rose Glass, the unbelievable religious terror of Saint Maud (2019) is truly haunting. This film tells the heartbreaking story of an incredible troubled young woman dealing with a mysterious set of traumas that manifest as a religious fervour that reaches past the point of sanity and into a hellscape of delusion. Highlighting the dangers of extreme mental delusion but also the depths of darkness that extreme Christian devotion can facilitate, Saint Maud brings the two together in a delicate yet horrifying 90 minutes of screentime.
The self-named Maud (played by Morfydd Clark) is a fragile nurse, intensely devoted to her Christian faith - a newfound devotion that appears to come after a past trauma of which see glimpses but are never truly invited to observe. We are, however, invited to observe Maud as she works to care for a private client with whom she becomes increasingly attached, if not obsessed with. It's interesting that, in my opinion, the actual plot of the film is the least important part of it. The in between moments that show Maud's inner turmoil - breaking her purity with reckless promiscuity and proceeding to self-flagelate by putting pins in her shoes - are what truly tells the story of Maud's heartbreaking delusion.
While there is nothing inherently wrong with religious devotion, this film approaches the issue of what happens when religious fervour is found in a mind that is already fractured and in pain.
While there is nothing inherently wrong with religious devotion, this film approaches the issue of what happens when religious fervour is found in a mind that is already fractured and in pain. This is where my review will get a little personal, I'm going to put a trigger warning here for mental health: if you feel that reading about poor mental health and associated difficulties will be triggering to you please skip the next section. Strangely, I have personal experience that is not dissimilar to Maud.
* TRIGGER WARNING STARTS *
I have dealth with mental health issues for as long as I can remember. I don't particularly want to go into detail because I don't think it's necessary to this review, but I found myself a Christian for two years despite growing up entirely secular. I found myself in a very dark and desperate place, and I resonated with some darker parts of the Bible that are usually left to sit and be ignored. Lots of my two years were incredibly beautiful, but there were times where I read the Bible unsupervised in my mental distress and without being explicit I will say that there were passages that encouraged the symptoms of my mental illnesses as a kind of God-given test or punishment for my sins. Believe it or not, I actually resonate with Maud quite heavily.
* TRIGGER WARNING ENDS *
Coming from this unique perspective, I think that Glass beautifully demonstrates the horror that Maud experiences dealing with her trauma by leaning on religious devotion. The styling of the film is soft and muted, neutral and dark throughout - this is exactly the atmosphere that I remember from that time in my life. The slow pace of the story is only accelerated in the build up to the final scene, where Maud publically self-immolates on a beach surrounded by people. There are lots of subtle moments that lead up to this one. We see a smoking gun in the form of a lighter that Maud keeps preciously by her side for some unknown reason. We see imagery of the angelic and Holy throughout her private moments.
In this final scene, we first watch from Maud's perspective as these worshippers bow down to the Saint as she ascends to the heavens, successful in her religious quest. And then, we watch from outside the delusion. Where Maud burns alive on a beach full of onlookers. We finally snap out of the 'what if she really is Holy' mindset that we have been encouraged to take for the entire film. By taking us out of Maud's delusion so abruptly and so horrifically at the very end of the film, we not only witness the heartbreaking pain that Maud goes through in that specific moment but we suddenly are able to rewrite the entire film knowing that this is not a Saint but a deluded woman in pain.
How beautiful. To share a delusion, to share the uncertainty of Maud's Holiness with her while witnessing the symptoms of her mental illness - only to be brought violently back to reality at the last, excruciating second.
How beautiful. To share a delusion, to share the uncertainty of Maud's Holiness with her while witnessing the symptoms of her mental illness - only to be brought violently back to reality at the last, excruciating second. This film hits something deeply personal for me, which I know may not resonate with many other people. I hope that in watching Saint Maud others may experience something personal in their own lives. Whether it's a lessoning of judgment of the mentally ill, or of the devout Christian; or an extrication of the misunderstanding that the two are one and the same thing - plot twist, they are not. I have a huge amount of respect for Rose Glass with this one, and if I could I would congratulate A24 for holding space for this film in their repetoire.
Until next time,
Alice xoxo
Mental Health Crisis Support UK: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/guides-to-support-and-services/crisis-services/helplines-listening-services/
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