Saint Maud (2020)

Maud, superbly played by Morfydd Clark, is a reclusive, pious young nurse, who devotes herself to the path of Christianity after an obscure trauma. After she is posted to care for the terminally ill Amanda, a retired dancer, Maud's faith inspires her to save Amanda's soul from eternal damnation at any cost. The film toes a fantastically uneasy line between delusion and reality, and it's very much the viewers interpretation of how the film plays out. Rose Glass, who wrote the screenplay as well as directing, has produced a film that is entrancing, wince inducing, and thoroughly thought provoking. Understandably the film will draw comparisons with the supposedly best religious horror films; Friedkin's The Exorcist (1973), which of course is one of the finest, and Rosemary's Baby (1968) which really isn't. But either comparison is unfair, shot beautifully, Saint Maud is an engrossing portrayal of faith, encapsulating both the good and the bad, and at the films ending you may have all the answers or all the questions. And either is a good thing. 7.8/10