On one hand I'm getting annoyed with these drama films that have horror in them toward the end enough to consider them horror movies. On the other hand I thought this was an interesting story about the purpose of faith and religion versus the overbearing aspects of it. This to me was about how religion should be encouraged and not forced. It can give you purpose but that purpose can only go so far. You should not change who you are completely as Maud does in this movie because of religion. Instead you should focus on bettering yourself and not living vicariously through others. "Saving" someone through religion and saving someone in reality are two different things she never learns. This movie was effective enough at making me care about the main character and putting me in Maud's world to the point where some of the stuff she goes through relates to some of the social anxiety I've had in my life.
The film starts out with a nurse named Katie (Morfydd Clark) failing to save to a patient after giving her CPR. Some time later Katie, now going by Maud is living in a seaside town and has been hired as a nurse for a dancer named Amanda (Jennifer Ehle). Amanda is dying of lymphoma. Maud has these narratives where she talks to God and she thinks that God has given her a reason to be there. Maud starts thinking that she is there to save Amanda's soul. They start praying during the days when they do physical therapy together and there almost seems to be a sexual and homoerotic vibe between them though I'm not entirely sure about that. A sex worker named Carol (Lily Frazer) frequently comes to see Amanda and and Maud catches them having sex. Maud tells Carol to stay from Amanda as she thinks that will help "save her soul." Maud at first thinks this has worked. Amanda, however has a birthday party and mocks Maud in front of everyone for thinking she could save her. Maud eventually slaps Amanda and is fired.
After being fired Maud struggles with her faith and tells God that if this is some kind of test she doesn't understand it. In an interesting metaphor, a towel wrapped with a crucifix falls from her dresser. This coincides with Maud going out to a bar and seducing a man for a hand job. She finds herself alone at the bar and laughing along with people having conversations she is not involved in. She tries calling Joy (Lily Adams) a person she had previously worked with who found her walking on the street one day. Joy can't do anything that night and eventually Maud seduces another man (Turlough Convery) who ends up raping her as soon as she has PTSD from putting her hands on his chest. This is when we learn about her hedonistic past as the man brings up that she had had sex with one of his friends. While out walking one day she meets Amanda's new nurse who enjoys being around Amanda. She abruptly leaves after hearing this and goes home and wants a sign from God. God's voice comes and tells her to be ready for a sign to prove her faith...
I enjoy a lot of things about this movie. There are some interesting ambiguities. Maud has two colored eyes and that symbolizes to me how she has lived two lives. One as a hedonistic person with no care for anything. Now as a devout catholic who sees religion in everything and has every opportunity to use it for what she thinks is good. She gives change to a homeless person but it almost feels like she is doing it for herself rather than for him. The same thing with how she wants to "save" Amanda. She feels a never ending guilt for what happened to her patient and she can't discriminate between saving people literally or religiously. Her two colored eyes are a representation of that black and white thought process to me. The scenes of her going out to the bar and the scenes of her at the party reminded me of how I feel about going out and being around others. It is the worst feeling in the world being made fun of with no one to defend you. It is also not fun going out or going to any social event alone and not being able to make friends or not being able to bring yourself to talk to people. I have gone out many times and not been able to talk to people and it has made me feel bad. It makes me feel like there is something wrong with me so I could empathize with Maud here. It is unfortunate that the only way for Maud to enjoy herself or connect in any way is through seduction.
Rose Glass and cinematographer Ben Fordesman do inject this with some interesting shots. I enjoy the view of the seaside hills whne Rose is walking up the steps to go to Amanda's mansion. There are some upside down shots and some 180 degree angles I liked as well. The music by Adam Janota Bzowski is mostly soundscape music to just promote the atmosphere though I don't mind it.
Spoiler Section
After God talks to Maud she has a come to Jesus moment so to speak and sneaks into Amanda's house wearing a robe and rosary beads. She finds Amanda bedridden and closer to death. Amanda asks for forgiveness for mocking her and Maud says the lord always forgives. That throws Amanda off as she was talking about her. Amanda confesses to not believing in God and faking her experiences they had together. After that Maud sees an apparently possessed Amanda mock her for needing to prove her faith and Maud who goes crazy and stabs her repeatedly and kills her. The next day we see wings on Maud after she wakes up. She goes down to the beach with a can of gasoline and sets herself on fire. It shows her with wings starting to ascend but then goes back to reality and we see her burning in pain.
This movie is dealing with an unreliable narrator. I'm not sure if those conversations with God she has really happened or not. The ending shows that her perspective is different from reality. I don't even know if Amanda was actually possessed, the only real horror movie moment in this by the way. Regardless, this is an interesting movie about how someone cannot distinguish between their religious and personal life. Some may say the personal is religious. It does give her a purpose but it also alienates her. Instead of coming across as genuine to Amanda and Carol she comes across as mean and homophobic. She thinks that Carol has actually heeded her words and that makes her think she is righteous when she really isn't. How many times have we as people made fun of someone with devout beliefs or chastised them for trying to force something on us? I can think of Mormons or others going door to door for example. Or going to an abortion clinic only to be mobbed or preached to be protesters. Yet we side with a character in this movie who is like that. I certainly don't find Maud to be unlikable and I felt secondhand embarrassment for her at the party. I felt the same kind of disappointment she as feeling at the pub. Any movie that can make me feel that way about a character I wouldn't like as much if they were real is working to me. I like the ideas and interpretations this has about reality and how religion can detach you from it if you can't separate your beliefs from the circumstances of the world and the people around you. I just wanted more horror and more of a payoff. When this ended I thought okay I liked the story and drama but there wasn't too much that was memorable from a visual perspective. I just thought about this while writing: This is the Christmas Evil of A24 movies.
Rating: 7/10
Trivia: Rose Glass originally had written a more detailed backstory for Maud. She found it too similar to Carrie. She had originally planned for that character to have a catholic upbringing.
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