TIFF 2019: SAINT MAUD SETS THE MADNESS

When all else fails sometimes people just turn to God which is exactly what the character Maud, played by Morfydd Clark does in Rose Glass‘ directorial debut, Saint Maud.  In the beginning chapter of the film, there has been a tragic death that has occurred and the audience believes hospice nurse Maud is somewhat accountable for it.  To repress or move on from this traumatic experience, she changes her name to Maud, devotes her life to Christianity and gets to take care of a well off former dancer who is nearing the last stages of her life because of cancer.  Amanda, played by Jennifer Ehle, is the new person that Maud gets to care for and finally move on from this previous life where she was without a god.  Being a born again Christian amuses Amanda and intrigues Maud by playing little head games with her.  Amanda does have a Jay Gatsby feel to her as she has some high-class parties and a paid dancing call girl named Carol who is played by Lily Frazer.  Maud becomes Amanda’s beck and call and things start to go south when Maud’s zealotry starts to take a hold of her.  To save Amanda from eternal damnation, Maud asks for Carol to be no longer part of Amanda’s life.

As this conflict arises and Amanda is nearing death, Maud becomes conflicted with herself as she tries to force god upon Amanda who has no belief in it and finds it all silly.  Maud then begins to also lead the former life that she once lived before she turned to god when she crosses paths with another hospice nurse from the past Joy played by Lily Knight.  That other life included being alone, promiscuous alcoholic where she tries to remove from her life but is still deeply rooted in her.  The audience can see that Maud leads to two extreme lives where she can be this biggest angel or this sexy bratty devil.

There wasn’t that much information about this film plus a lone film still to be explored all over the net that made this film very intriguing, to say the least.  It is one of those hidden gems that Midnight Madness programmer Peter Kuplowksky planted in his slate this year at the Toronto International Film Festival.  Watching this film was almost like going on a blind date which had this slow-burning psychological thriller deliver and a  match made in heaven or hell.  Saint Maud will turn many heads because of the manner to which Rose Glass lays the film down and the conflicts that the two main characters, Maud and Amanda, have within themselves as well as each other.  The tension in Saint Maud builds so far with no help from the eerie but beautiful musical score, that even god can’t help you.  Some may say that this is a lot like The Exorcist or Carrie because of the film’s characteristics but Saint Maud stands on its own two feet and glows with a halo on its head and maybe a pitchfork in its hand.

This article is co-presented by AGJR Enterprise Inc. specializing in Financial Services