Saint Maud

Saint Maud is an extreme slow burn that really hurts to watch, and you can definitely tell that it's directed by a woman. It's a drama for nuns, lesbians, weird individuals, and intellectuals. Saint Maud has very little in common with horror throughout its entire duration, maybe just five minutes at the end, and it lacks emotion and a more interesting story. The protagonist is extremely unlikeable and uninteresting, the pace couldn't be slower, and if you enjoy films where nothing happens the whole time, then please go ahead. This personally offends me. One star for a funny scene in a bar and another for the ending, which at least slightly hinted that we are watching a "horror" film. But it would have been enough for me to watch a 5-minute clip on YouTube instead of being bored for 80 minutes by this religious-lesbian soap opera that sparked as much interest in me as a spider on the ceiling. I might start praying to God because I had planned to go see it at the cinema, but I'd rather be crucified now. Story***, Action>No, Humor>No, Violence*, Entertainment*, Music***, Visuals***, Atmosphere**, Tension*. 4/10. (02.02.2021)

For the vast majority of its running time, Saint Maud is a very well-made and imaginatively shot slow-burning horror art movie that seems to pay tribute to (and also quote) the classic Sunset Boulevard and entertains us with its premise and strong characters. In addition, if it were not for the last five minutes, in which Rose Glass, unfortunately, decides to go off in a slightly different direction than I would have liked, I would almost be impressed. Still, I was satisfied with it and I also appreciated the very audience-friendly running time, which means that no scene in the movie feels longer than it needs to be, or extraneous. (17.05.2021)

In many moments, Saint Maud is a psychologically focused and visually brilliant story about losing oneself through sliding into religious madness, but which doesn’t develop into anything satisfying in the end. This is a psychological horror flick from the dark mind of a socially perceptive and intellectually highly developed filmmaker, whose aim, however, doesn’t much appeal to me. (16.05.2021)

Saint Maud is certainly very well made and Rose Glass enters the stage as a director worthy of attention, whose work should be followed. Her debut is a dark psychodrama with an unpleasant, slightly horror atmosphere. I expected that, so I’m not disappointed, but I would have probably been more satisfied with a tiny bit more pure genre joy. Another good thing is the reasonable runtime. (01.02.2021)