{"id":22140,"date":"2021-02-11T13:12:57","date_gmt":"2021-02-11T21:12:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=22140"},"modified":"2021-02-11T13:12:57","modified_gmt":"2021-02-11T21:12:57","slug":"strong-performances-help-saint-maud-deliver-some-chills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=22140","title":{"rendered":"Strong Performances Help SAINT MAUD Deliver Some Chills"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/24_0008_B-merged.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10620\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This film from A24 is currently playing in open cinemas\nand will be available for rental on streaming platforms February 12<sup>th<\/sup>.&nbsp; <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As we age or begin to suffer from ill health and disease, it\ncan sometimes become necessary to employ assistance from professionals. The new\nBritish psychological horror film <em>Saint Maud<\/em> deals with such a scenario.\nWhile the story may deal with the horrors of religious extremism and mental\nillness, one thing that makes an immediate impression on viewers is to be sure\nto do a thorough interview and background check on anyone before they come into\nyour home. Apparently, there are a few unhinged caregivers out there who may\npose a danger not only to their employers, but to themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/saintmaud-05-fixed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22141\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maud (Morfydd Clark) is a nurse with a mysterious history\nwho lives isolated in a tiny apartment. She takes a new position in palliative\ncare, helping a dancer named Amanda (Jennifer Ehle) who is suffering from stage\nfour lymphoma. As the two get to know each other, it becomes clear that Maud is\nfervently religious. At first, Amanda enjoys playfully teasing her, but things\nslowly devolve as the nurse\u2019s behavior becomes even more extreme and viewers\ndiscover begin to learn more about her past. Before long, the caregiver decides\nto exert her own beliefs on the patient. Her own grasp of reality begins to\nfall apart and the world around her takes on a more surreal slant and the\nreality of the situation becomes less and less reliable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/saintmaud-04-fixed.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22142\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This film is character-based and something of a slow-burn,\nslowly taking viewers into the world of the lead character and allowing them to\nwatch this woman as everything unravels around her. It\u2019s a small film relying\nsolely on mood and performances to get its simple point across\u2026 essentially,\nthat religious extremism can alter and negatively influence one\u2019s own perception\nof the world, causing incredible trauma on the true believer and those whom\nthey are trying to \u201csave\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To put it bluntly, the idea isn\u2019t all that shocking or\nradical on its own and it\u2019s pretty clear early on where the story is headed. But\nit does benefit from a strong lead performance told almost entirely from Maud\u2019s\nperspective, as well as some eerie visuals that help emphasize the movie\u2019s\nmessage. Her obsession is all-consuming and even the images on display soon\nmirrors her state. From Maud\u2019s disheveled apartment that seems to be cracking\napart to her creepy visions, one certainly can see and feel her becoming unglued.\nSo even the end game is clear from the outset, the filmmaker does excel at\ncreating an unsettling atmosphere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/saintmaud-06.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22143\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The movie also manages to generate some interest in the\nstory itself by hiding and slowly revealing Maud\u2019s past. Characters who once\nknew the woman in school tentatively interact with her and you can see by the\nlook in their eyes that they are uncomfortable being in her company. Of course,\nthis does make one wonder how the protagonist has managed to continue gaining\nemployment when she clearly has some serious issues that make others veer away\nfrom her, but at least enough of what is occurring is strange enough to keep\none wondering just how much is a figment of her own fractured mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the end, you won\u2019t be surprised by what you see, but thanks\nto the committed performances the movie still works as a mood piece about an\nobsessed woman on a downward spiral. <em>Saint Maud<\/em> managed to make an\nimpression. It won\u2019t convert anyone looking for a breezy jump or two at the\nmovies, but the feature will most certainly creep psychological horror movie\nenthusiasts out with its grim and unrelenting vision. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This film from A24 is currently playing in open cinemas and will be available for rental on streaming platforms February 12th.&nbsp; As we age or begin to suffer from ill health and disease, it can sometimes become necessary to employ assistance from professionals. The new British psychological horror film Saint Maud deals with such a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":22144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[206,605,9319,10568,14235,16464,17523,17524,17525,17526,22825],"class_list":["post-22140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-206","tag-a24","tag-horror","tag-jennifer-ehle","tag-morfydd-clark","tag-psychological-horror","tag-saint-maud","tag-saint-maud-film-review","tag-saint-maud-movie-review","tag-saint-maud-review","tag-thriller"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22140\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}