When I first saw the trailer for LOVE LIES BLEEDING I thought “I need to see SAINT MAUD, don’t I?” It’s the first movie from writer/director Rose Glass, which was heavily hyped after playing TIFF and Fantastic Fest, and was picked up by A24, who of course gave it an intriguing trailer that was playing on all the horror movies. But that was in 2020, so the pandemic happened, it got delayed for a while, and ultimately only received a limited release in January of 2021, which was a no-go for me because it was well before vaccines were available.

So the hype train grinded to a halt, and personally I needed it to push me over the small hill of it looking like religious horror. You know, you put “Saint” in the title, you show her in some kind of robe on the poster, you show her levitating, I’m gonna assume it has something to do with possession or some shit. I can watch a movie like that if it’s a really good one, but I need some encouragement. Glass’s follow-up looking amazing gave me that.

It turns out that yes, technically SAINT MAUD probly counts as religious horror, but it’s not about possession or nuns or any of that shit. It’s doing its own thing. It stars Morfydd Clark (PRIDE + PREJUDICE + ZOMBIES, CRAWL) as Maud, a private palliative care nurse in a small seaside town (Scarsborough, North Yorkshire, England), hired to take care of Amanda Köhl (Jennifer Ehle, ZERO DARK THIRTY, ROBOCOP remake), a famous American dancer and choreographer dying of cancer, who the previous nurse warns is kind of a c-word.

They seem like opposites, because Maud is shy and very religious, while Amanda is a professed atheist who has lived a wild, Bohemian life in the arts. But Amanda is able to confide in Maud about her fear of death, asks her about her beliefs in a non-judgmental way, and really seems to enjoy her company. She politely plays along with her prayers, seems to think they’re kind of cute, at one point even claims to feel the presence of God (they both moan orgasmically, possibly not for the same reasons). Kinda weird but you’re allowed to believe what you want I guess.

It’s not the easiest job for Maud – she leaves Amanda alone with an old friend (Marcus Hutton, MADE IN DAGENHAM), and is immediately called back to put her to bed and clean up puke, because she can’t hold her drink anymore. So Amanda appreciates her. She doesn’t know better yet. But a possessive and controlling side of Maud reveals itself when Amanda’s girlfriend Carol (Lily Frazer, THE GENTLEMEN) starts coming over. We know Maud is really out of line when she confronts Carol and tells her she’s endangering Amanda’s soul and needs to stay away.

Carol thinks Maud is being homophobic, or maybe racist, but it might just be general prudishness. She pretends to accept Maud’s demand but then shows up for Amanda’s birthday bash, clearly having told her about the confrontation. On one hand, Amanda is overly forgiving, not firing Maud’s ass immediately for that bullshit. On the other hand, she gets tipsy and starts making fun of her about it, and her friends join in, and it’s very mean. Anyway, Maud slaps her, so that’s the end of that gig.

As you’d probly guess, it’s more about character than plot. Glass wisely introduces Maud to us as the well-meaning, naive little woman with the chirpy voice and the cozy sweaters who initially amuses Amanda, before implying there’s more to the story when she runs into an old co-worker, Joy (Lily Knight), who calls her a different name and seems surprised she got more work as a nurse after some horrible thing that happened at the old job. Maud’s voiceovers of goofily conversational talks with God make a little more sense when we realize the whole Christianity thing is a recent obsession brought on by the incident.

And now without a job she becomes a completely different person, going to the pub and picking out a random guy to give a hand job in the hallway. But her religious practice also escalates, as she samples different approaches to self-flagellation, such as creating insoles full of tacks to put in her Converse, and walking around trying not to wince too much. It’s a really impressive performance by Clark, an increasingly unnerving portrait of an unhinged person, but never completely losing my sympathy.

One highlight is the scene where Joy comes to check on her on her. Maud lets her into her sparse studio apartment and stands there in her underwear, mostly not talking, but lying about how totally fine and happy she is. Joy picks up on some of the long list of red flags, looks curiously at the religious altar that doesn’t seem to match the person she used to know, but takes her word for it. Okay, she says she’s fine, I guess she’s fine, I did my due diligence. You don’t want to believe your friend is as far gone as Maud is.

I think what makes it work for me is the texture of the thing, the many small choices that make it fall outside of any mold I expected. If anything it seems closest to a ‘90s suspense thriller about a roommate/nanny/whatever who turns out to have a secret past and a dangerous obsession, but it doesn’t look or feel like those movies – partly because it stays with that person the whole time, never takes the point-of-view of her victim, even though she has the more reasonable one.

And Ehle is so good, such a layered character – witty, a little mischievous, angry at her situation, which she sometimes takes out on others, but mostly she’s a nice person. And very believable as a former dancer. We can see Amanda’s colorful past in her collection of hipster friends and the extra copies of her coffee table book KÖHL on the book shelf. I wonder if she knows Lydia Tár?

I also really like the choice of setting. It seems so very English but the neighborhood is centered around a big, literally flashy arcade called Coney Island, with a ferris wheel and I’m not sure what else next to it. I was a little confused at first, because it sure didn’t seem like the same place from THE WARRIORS. The clash of quaint little town and garish tourist attraction makes it a great place to feel off balance all the time.

Related: I read that Clark wears contacts so that Maud’s eyes are two different colors. I didn’t notice.

Despite the unlucky release, SAINT MAUD did win some honors: two British Independent Film Awards (best debut director, best cinematography), three London Film Critics’ Circle Awards (British/Irish film of the year, British/Irish actress of the year, Breakthrough British/Irish filmmaker), and one Fangoria Chainsaw Award (best first feature). It’s a slight movie, it doesn’t knock your ass through a wall with its horror shit or give you chills with its statement about religion. But what it does it does very well, with some style and originality, and I suspect it signals more good things to come from these actors and this filmmaker.