And then there's SAINT MAUD

I finally got around to watching SAINT MAUD (2019) on Prime. It was one I remembered seeing advertised in trailers in the long-ago time (aka, on the front end of the pandemic).

Having watched it, seeing Morfydd Clark (aka, Galadriel) playing the titular character, I found it a memorably diverting psychological horror (?) film, with the obligatory deeply Catholic roots (queue up spiritual unrest and self-harm).

SAINT MAUD felt to me like a fusion of the following movies:

THE EXORCIST (1973)
TAXI DRIVER (1976)
BEING THERE (1979)
MAY (2002)
THE WITCH (2015)
HEREDITARY (2018)

If that sounds like an odd blend, it's not; they're all in there, although I'd add that the humor in BEING THERE & MAY is entirely absent in this one--SAINT MAUD is dead serious in its approach, in these matters of life and death.

However, there's the lonely and isolated protagonist adrift in a world she can't fully accept, taking refuge in a perilous piety that invariably butts up against the tyranny of reality. Maud (or Katie, as her real name is revealed to be) is adrift (one would really say "lost") in her newfound faith, with predictably dire consequences.

While I knew just where the movie was going (had to be, given the setup), the performances and even the dark and dreamy slow burn of it made it an unforgettable trek. Mad props to first-time director Rose Glass, who tackles everything with bracing confidence and a sure eye.

Definitely not a feel-good sort of movie, but carried out with a strong directorial vision that it makes it compelling to watch.

****