There’s a soul to save in the horror Saint Maud

If I see the name A24 attached to a movie I sit up and pay attention. The independent production company rarely sets a foot wrong and has released some of the most thought-provoking and intriguing movies of the last decade – their releases include titles like Ex Machina, Room, Moonlight, The Lighthouse, Midsommar, Hereditary, Swiss Army Man, to name but a few. They’re also getting 2020 off to a good start with Saint Maud.

It’s the debut feature from writer/director Rose Glass and stars Morfydd Clark (Crawl) as a soft-spoken, intensely-religious private care giver, Maud, who is employed to care for the chronically ill Amanda (Jennifer Ehle – Zero Dark Thirty), a former dancer whose personality could not be more different from that of Maud’s. As the pair begin to bond Maud becomes determined to save Amanda’s soul, but her faith is rooted in pain and darkness, something that threatens to overwhelm them both.

The plot synopsis is as follows:

Having recently found God, self-effacing young nurse Maud (Morfydd Clark) is untiring in her spiritual devotion. Landing a job as full-time private carer, she arrives at the plush home of Amanda (Jennifer Ehle), a hedonistic dancer left frail from a chronic illness. While they could not be more different – Amanda’s taste for the extravagant being the antithesis of Maud’s pious values – the mismatched pair are intrigued by each other, slowly building a brittle bond of co-dependency.

But when a chance encounter with a former colleague throws up hints of a dark past, it becomes clear there is more to sweet Maud than meets the eye. As Amanda’s self-indulgent behaviour escalates, tensions between the couple steadily grow, leaving Maud convinced that she has been sent to serve a higher purpose.

Let’s take a look:

This trailer was just brimming with intensity and creepiness, and that’s all thanks to Clark’s superbly understated performance. You know there’s a lot more going on under that meek exterior, and her time spent caring for the worldly Amanda is slowly peeling away those protective layers. I don’t know about you, but I want to see what emerges.

What do you think?

Saint Maud is due for release in the US on 27 March 2020.

Last Updated: December 18, 2019