From It Follows to Midsommar, the A24 always sets another factor in its horror work and has its own magnet. Emphasizing atmospheric horror instead of the jump scare is the formula for this one production house. The same thing happened in the film Saint Maud. In fact, the themes in Saint Maud are also very provocative. Judging by his character who lost direction in the teachings of the god he believed.
That's Maud (Morfydd Clark) who is trying his best to get rid of his guilt for his past. He also tries to get closer to the religion he believes in and serve someone in return. Maud becomes a nurse for a former famous dancer with malignant cancer named Amanda (Jennifer Ehle). Maud tried his best to be able to accompany Amanda until the end of his life.
However, what Maud did was beyond the limit. He indirectly wanted to be the center of Amanda's attention. Doing many other things to get reassurance from Amanda. All this he did in the name of the teachings of the faith that he believed. However, he also tried to question himself, whether what he had done was right, and by the path of the top figure of something he believed in (re religion).
What a gripping spiritual journey.
Maybe that statement is suitable to describe how this Saint Maud took place. This film, which is directed by Rose Glass, is focused on being a character study of a person who finds his spiritual path to find what is considered true. This is what the director converted into a tense spectacle. Because who knows about the truth. It could be that on the way, that someone could get lost in it.
Maud may carry out every command that he considers himself right. However, the audience will feel the horror. There is a lot of uncertainty that occurs in this film that makes the audience feel uncomfortable. For 95 minutes, the audience might get tired and get carried away with all the actions of the main character. Apart from the truth, there are past experiences that make Maud's character even more complex.
Then the audience will feel that what Maud did was his way of looking for the truth or instead he was looking for justification for everything he did. It is interesting when Rose Glass uses a third-person or audience perspective as someone who follows Maud's journey throughout the film. However, towards the conclusion of the film, how Maud tries to "purify" himself, Rose Glass uses the main character's point of view. There, a scene with two different perspectives is quickly brought to a conclusion. Show that about the truth that someone believes is an endless debate to discuss.
Saint Maud, as a horror film itself, also managed to make the audience shudder with horror. Maybe you could say Saint Maud is a psychological horror that has managed to haunt the audience throughout the film. Because the power of Saint Maud in frightening the audience is how the audience interprets or guesses about what is happening in the film. Even at the end of the film, the feeling of being "disturbed" is still there and remains.
This is also supported by the performance of Morfydd Clark who succeeded in describing the confusion of Maud's lost direction. This subtle yet terrifying performance influenced Rose Glass's goal of turning Saint Maud into an atmospheric horror that binds the audience. For a directorial debut, this first work is very promising. Crazy!
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