Story

Maude, a domestic nurse, moves in with Amanda, a famous dancer who has been weakened by an illness that keeps her locked up in her spacious home. Amanda is first attracted to this strange, very religious young woman, who distracts her. Maude is fascinated by his patient. But appearances are deceptive. (critical sense)

technical sheet

Direction and Screenplay : pink glass
Country of Production: United Kingdom
Genre: Horror Thriller
Duration: 83 Minutes
Released: 2019

Distribution : Morphid Clark, Jennifer Ehle

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Shocking, disturbing. Like a lot of psychological movies that beg to be horror, Saint Maud takes a long time to wake up. It’s about operating an entire vibe that, alas, sometimes lasts too long, so that the last half hour of a psychological horror movie is often a chilling effect.

For the first film, Rose Glass was able to portray a very subtle environment that coordinated perfectly with the plot. But this quest for perfection seems limited by the fear of wrong steps. As if the director knew the basics, but did not dare to give up on his fantasies. It turns out to be a fairly flat screen that would have been happy with a few small scares sprinkled across this solid but overly transparent landscape.

The influence of other films of the genre is felt, as we pulled right and left. Carrie, The Exorcist or Empire, where Bill Paxton says he is charged by God to destroy demons. The story draws on three themes rooted in human questions, for our fundamental fears: religion (and what results from it), dependence and the old age that awaits the least mortal. This interaction with the audience can surely be the film’s saving grace. We appeal to our feelings. We can also identify this woman “who was” and who struggles to maintain her dignity. Or this spirited young woman who sees herself as representative of an ultimate goal.

This last of life, nurse-assistant is a mix of Carrie and Carrie’s mother. Heavy burden on such small shoulders. The feeling of numbness intensifies as we lift a frame without too many surprises. It seems fashionable to explore several major themes in a single film, as is the case with the latest Almodovar. Here a young woman who falls in love with the person she cares for is possessed by a mysterious entity that likes to get off. We don’t really know what that feeling is like, but their relationship is very unclear.

It might be hiding something even more terrifying than the voiceover giving him orders. Misbehavior of some members of the nursing staff towards dependents? The highlight of these people who want to help others so much that they only impose their own vision of helping? Amanda, lonely and mentally ill, needs company in the final moments of her life to be treated with dignity. She doesn’t want this obsessive goal of Maude, which is to save her. But since she is so dependent, she can only suffer. A striking parallel with the dangerous relationship that can develop between the caregiver and the fragile person she cares for. Is this movie a slander? Believing. Or maybe.

Sant Maud will not leave you indifferent. If we ignore a subtle weirdness and Maude’s detachment from the ground up, the film will manage to grab our attention and give us some chills.