SAINT MAUD: YOUR SAVIOR IS COMING

 

Director Rose Glass’s inaugural film Saint Maud (2019) tells the unsettling story of a young, recently-converted nurse who becomes consumed by her quest to save her dying patient’s soul. Maud (Morfydd Clark, Crawl) gives a haunted and chilling performance that balances well with Amanda’s (Jennifer Ehle, Zero Dark Thirty) candid and natural persona. One thing Saint Maud does well is its consideration of religious psychology vs. reality. The ending scene with Maud standing on the beach engulfed in light and bearing angel wings is offset by a short second of her burning on fire and screaming in pain, once again reminding the audience of Maud’s delusional fantasy. The film skillfully explores intersecting themes of trauma/PTSD, religion, and obsession in a frightening yet humanistic way. 

Saint Maud draws blood- literally. The opening scene features the constant dripping of blood in a dark hospital room. Maud sits in the corner covered in blood as well, after failing to save the life of a patient. In shock, she gazes up to the ceiling and sees a bug crawling over her. More on the bug’s significance later, but I felt myself really resonating with the way Glass chose to construct this scene. The audience does not see the patient’s actual death, nor Maud in a fit of hysteria- however, we are still instilled with fear. We only see the aftermath, Maud separated from her trauma on the other side of the room, cowering and quiet. She is almost disassociated from what has happened, a psychological defense mechanism that many trauma victims will describe experiencing as well. Yet the continuous sound of blood splattering on the floor is a perpetual reminder of what previously occurred, no matter how quiet or faded into the background it is. Glass does not need to use flashy lights or extremely graphic and gory imagery. The eerie silence and Maud’s stillness so honestly encapsulates a feeling of emptiness and isolation in the wake of trauma. This concept is mirrored again later, after Maud is assaulted by a man whom she meets at a bar one night. After the act, Maud does not scream or cry, but simply lays there for a moment before getting up to leave. 

But these seemingly indifferent reactions do not translate to a healthy recovery for Maud. She experiences PTSD multiple throughout the film, sometimes in the form of flashbacks, but other times in less noticeable ways. When Maud goes home with the man from the bar, at first she does have sex with him consensually. While on top, she has a flashback of herself performing CPR on the patient from the opening scene, and the audience finds out she broke the victim’s ribs by pushing too hard during the chest compressions. But Maud is also affected in other ways. She changes her name from “Katie” to “Maud”, taking on a whole new identity and once again disassociating from her trauma. She becomes reclusive, or socially isolated, as former colleague Joy points out that she is not seen going out anymore and that no one from the hospital she worked at before has heard from her. Instead of seeking much-needed help, Maud instead chooses to turn to religion, but not quite in a traditional sense. 

Religion is a touchy subject for some, Christianity even more so. I applaud Glass for daring to build her story around such a controversial yet influential aspect of our culture. Saint Maud is filled with Roman-Catholic religious imagery and references, from Maud’s treasured crucifix to the very title of the film. I mentioned a bug from the opening scene earlier, and I’ll admit that when I first watched the movie I was a little confused as to why Glass chose a bug of all animals to represent Christ Jesus. But after doing some reading (and thinking back to my 12 years of Catholic schooling), I recognized that, like all things in film, the image of the bug symbolizes a greater historical and emotional context. Insects in both the Old and New Testament were a source of pain, worry, and devastation to the people of the time. Recall the story of the 10 plagues of Egypt- one of them was locusts, who destroyed all crops and infested all households. The appearance of the bug, who brings along Christ’s presence, destroys Maud’s life and sanity, completely taking over her existence. She is overrun by her delusional devotion to her god. 

Another question I had while watching Saint Maud was why Jesus spoke in Welsh. It was not a language he would have been familiar with at all, historically speaking, so why was that specific vernacular chosen? It could be because Morfydd Clark is Welsh herself, but that seems like a stretch. After doing some research, I found that Welsh shares many similar characteristics with Latin, and both stem from the Indo-European language branch. Latin is the official language of the Roman-Catholic Church, and has been since around the fourth century. If Jesus is speaking in Welsh in Saint Maud, a deviation from the true speech of the Church, it is because Maud has made her religion to be a perversion of true Christianity. I also found it interesting that Jesus’ voice in the film is actually Clark herself speaking Welsh, just edited to sound distorted and deepened. So, Maud is not really hearing the voice of God instructing her- it’s all just in her head. For Maud, religion is transformation; she leaves her old life behind after a traumatic experience and begins anew with a purpose. She projects that purpose onto her new patient Amanda, and for a brief time her intentions seem innocent. But as the story progresses, Maud’s care for Amanda’s well-being quickly turns into obsession. 

Maud’s compulsion to convert Amanda and “save her soul” turns dangerous very quickly. It starts off pretty mild, with a few conversations about her faith and an interest in William Blake’s art. However, Maud soon crosses the boundaries of professionalism. She orders Carol, a girl that Amanda pays for sex, to not come by the house anymore as their relationship is interfering with Amanda’s journey towards salvation. Even Carol points out that what Amanda does in her personal life is none of Maud’s business, but the radical nurse persists. Maud also paints crosses onto many of the walls in the house with what I assumed was holy water, hoping that Amanda’s spirit will become more receptive to God. After Maud is fired for hitting Amanda at her birthday party, she falls into a sort of depression once deprived from what she perceived to be God’s calling. Even after some time of being away from Amanda, Maud returns and still attempts to convert her. When this fails, she lights herself on fire in the last few horrifying minutes of the film.

Rose Glass has acknowledged that Saint Maud can be interpreted in many different ways- whether Maud is actually suffering from an extreme mental disorder and imagining many of the film’s events or truly hearing God’s voice calling to her is up to the viewer’s discretion. Regardless, the film gives a really interesting take on the psychology and vulnerability of a trauma victim that can lead to sinister manifestations. If Saint Maud is meant to be taken literally, I know for certain that I won’t be trusting Welsh-speaking bugs anytime soon.

Women who worked on Saint Maud (2019):

Rose Glass- writer/director

Morfydd Clark- Maud

Caoilfhionn Dunne- nurse

Jennifer Ehle- Amanda

Lily Frazer- Carol

Lily Knight- Joy

Noa Bodner- Hilary

Sona Vyas- agency worker

Faith Edwards- agency worker

Rosie Sansom- Esther

Rose Knox-Peebles- dead patient

Nancy- cockroach

Linda E. Greenwood- passerby on beach

Louise Port- birthday guest

Joanna Richardson- old woman

Susanne Schraps- Amanda’s friend

Fiona Thompson- nurse

Amanda Vinter- passerby

Mary Burke- executive producer

Andrea Cornwell- producer

Kharmel Cochrane- casting

Paulina Rzeszowska- production design

Isobel Dunhill- art direction

Anna Mould- set direction

Tina Kalivas- costume design

Emmalee Etherington- hair and makeup traine

Velina Iankova- makeup and hair assistant daily

Jacquetta Levon- hair designer/makeup designer/special makeup effects designer

Jane Maier- additional makeup & hair stylist/additional special makeup effects artist

Charlotte Dean- post-production supervisor

Anna Jancsó- production manager

Cordelia Hardy- first assistant director splinter unit

Naomi King- third assistant director

Ursa Banton-Miller- set dresser

Jessica Barrell- dailies graphic designer

Alannah Byrne- standby art director

Katie Clarke- production buyer

Annie McClure- home economist

Ysra-el St. Clair Miller- set dresser

Anna Oldham-Cooper- prop maker

Robyn Wilton- additional standby props/art department assistant/art trainee

Kerrie Bryant- visual effects producer: Technicolor

Zoe Cousins- digital film bureau

Danielle Dunster- VFX production coordinator/visual effects coordinator

Kate Warburton- VFX executive producer

Rachael Evelyn- stunt performer

Nadia Hansell- stunt double for Morfydd Clark

Teresa Adamson- additional 2nd assistant camera

Julia Green- splinter unit 1st assistant camera

Veronica Keszthelyi- additional second assistant camera

Alison Martin- camera trainee

Laura Radford- additional stills photographer

Luciana Riso- director of photography: Kohl Dance Company

Alison Streatfield- second assistant camera

Joelle Cochrane- casting assistant

May Douglas- casting assistant

Ariane Mason- casting assistant

Grace James- costume trainee

Mia Hope Radford- additional costume assistant

Sophie Billington- digital film bureau

Emma Liu- assistant digital intermediate producer

Chloe Warner-Harris- online editor

Jess Waluga- additional location manager

Lesley Jackson- composer agent

Jen Moss- music supervisor

Shaida Kazemi- script supervisor

Claire Ashton- stand in for Jennifer Ehle

Francesca Castelbuono- production secretary

Celine Coulson- senior development and production executive: Film4

Lauren Dark- creative executive: Film4

Simone Dawkins- floor runner

Grace Dickinson- animal wrangler

Rose Dyfebeedell- medical advisor

Daisy-May Hudson- producer’s assistant

Kristin Irving- production and development executive: BFI

Emily Leach- production executive: Film4

Jessica Moran- production coordinator

Katie Volker- additional production assistant

Sarah Nichols- thanks

Judy Spours- thanks

Thora Woodward- thanks

Eva Yates- thanks

Saint Maud is now streaming on Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Paramount+.