Saint Maud joins the ranks of Hereditary, Midsommar, The Witch & The Lodge; a movie that is primarily a chilling drama with shades of horror throughout, a formula which has shown to be exponentially more frightening than the cheap thrills of yesteryear. Rather than easy scares and loud noises, Saint Maud focuses on the realism of it's protagonists struggles to paint a more horrific reality than any prosthetics or high decibels could create. If you are a fan of the new wave of horror, Saint Maud is unmissable. Rose Glass has easily secured herself amongst the ranks of Ari Aster and Robert Eggers in the horrorsphere with this beyond impressive debut. I look forward to whatever she works on next.

Musings and details I enjoyed [SPOILERS BELOW]:
[spoiler]The lighter is foreshadowed throughout the movie, from Maud idly playing with it along the sea front, to the party guest helping light the candles at Amanda's party. Every side character in this movie also smokes, something I'm struggling to land the exact symbolism of outside of the mentioned foreshadowing of the lighter.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Maud/Katie's descent into madness is shown via spirals/whirlwinds/tornados throughout the movie. Water is shown swirling down the plughole multiple times, a tornado appears in Katie's beer at the bar and obviously the opening in the sky during _that_ scene.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Maud/Katie's past life and current life are kept very distinctly apart until the final scene when her ex-colleague comes to check if she's OK. We then see, as Maud/Katie looks out the window that her eyes are now different colours. Does this portray that her Katie and Maud personas are now one and she's fully succumbed to her religious delusions?[/spoiler]

[spoiler]The movie flips the usual trope of women being objects of desire and sex by having all male characters be literal sex objects. Katie gives the guy at the pub a handjob, she sleeps with the guy who's beer she knocks over, and Amanda only has her male friend over at the start of the movie to drink and sleep with. Cool subversion of older tropes which isn't pointed to or overly highlighted.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]The movie solidifies that all of this is a delusion in Katie's head with it's harrowing finale, but other details shown throughout also confirm that this is nothing more than a coping mechanism. For example, when God speaks to Maud, it's in a foreign tongue that I initially mistook for Latin, but it is actually Welsh. The actress who plays Maud is Welsh so it's not much of a stretch to assume that Maud herself is Welsh, confirming that God didn't actually speak to her, she was simply speaking to herself.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]The movie asks a lot of questions about the validity of religion, as well as the support structures available to those who live through traumatic life events. It's terrifying to think that people out there could suffer with PTSD and have no one to turn to. Maud (like many others in real life) fell into religion as a coping mechanism for her pain. This movie is horrifying in the sense that I could see this really happening to someone. Being unable to deal with a life changing event, and instead projecting a higher purpose on yourself to try and run from the problem, ultimately leading to the destruction of others and yourself.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]I enjoyed the parallels between Maud and Amanda's characters. Amanda has been told her life is abruptly coming to an end, while Maud is struggling to find any reason for her life to go on. Amanda is leading a life of frivolity and recklessness in a final blaze of glory, while Maud is attempting to lead a life of conservatism and modesty. Great dynamic to have, especially seeing as where the story takes these two characters. [/spoiler]

[spoiler]Man, this movie has so much to unpack considering it's fairly brief 84 minute runtime :laughing: [/spoiler]