Saint Maud Review (New Movie)

    Saint Maud is the latest horror film from famous indie studio A24. This movie is about an extremely religious nurse with a mysterious past who becomes dangerously obsessed with converting her dying patient. You can find the film in select theaters or streaming only on EPIX. 

    Morfydd Clark gives a fantastic performance. This movie only works because of her terrifying work here. For such a simplistic character, she made her seem very layered. Jennifer Ehle gives a good performance. Though she didn’t really impress me until the finale. Lily Knight and Lily Frazer are both fine in their supporting roles, but this is really a two-woman show. Rose Glass directs and writes this movie. For the first time making a movie, it’s an admirable job. The direction is simple but effective. When the movie wants to, it’s very effective at building a tense atmosphere. As for the script, the overarching story is powerful, though the characters are fairly simplistic. Strangely though, the simplicity is a strength more than a weakness as it helped build the fear. Fair warning for a sizeable chunk of this film, it’s a dark drama with some creepy moments. The horror doesn’t ramp up until the finale, though it’s worth the wait. The 3rd act had me holding my breath and is easily my favorite part of the film. As for the runtime, it’s an incredibly brief 84 minutes. Mostly, the film flows quickly outside of a small part that dragged. 

    This is a shorter review, but it’s a very simple film so I don’t have as much to say. I would however like to impart some warnings. This is absolutely an art-house horror film. If you go into it, expecting a jump scare-fest, it will bore you out of your mind. Second, if you are sensitive to poor representations of mental health or controversial portrayals of Christianity, specifically Catholicism, stay far, far away from this movie. 

    Overall, though, I enjoyed Saint Maud enough to recommend it to fans of this type of film. The strong lead performance combined with an ending that will haunt me for a while made this work for me. So, guys, that’s it for this review, if you enjoyed it give it a share and let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Be sure to check back later for my review of Judas and the Black Messiah, and I’ll see you guy’s next time.

7/10