ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

Morfydd Clark

Saint Maud: For the Right Reasons

by Leave a Comment

All Hail, Saint Maud! 

With an emphasis on psychological horror, Saint Maud makes you question whether or not what you’re seeing is reality or merely taking place in the mind of the protagonist. Is Maud trying to do all things through God, or is that just a way to hide the struggles that are really going on deep inside? Let’s take an in-depth look at Saint Maud.

Written and directed by Rose Glass, Saint Maud begins with Maud (Morfydd Clark), a very religious nurse who lost her job at the hospital where she was previously employed. (While it’s not really fully explained why she resigned, we are given hints in flashbacks and mentions throughout the film.) Maud looks to be forgiven and shown a second chance as she takes up a private nursing assignment. This assignment lands her at the home and care of Amanda Kohl (Jennifer Ehle), a former dancer with a terminal illness that put an end to her career and fame.

Amanda is determined to continue living out her Hollywood lifestyle and not let the illness stop her. As the two opposite forces come together, they begin to clash with their differences. Maud is focused on cutting out Amanda’s unhealthy lifestyle (smoking, drinking and sex) and save her soul. Amanda, on the other hand, is more focused on mocking Maud’s beliefs and calling her “My Saviour, Maud”. These clashes lead to some serious friction between the two and pushes Maud to take some disturbing actions.

Usually in horror movie these days, the focus is on the jump scares. If this is what you’re looking for, then this is not the movie for you. However, if you’re more interested on the plot twists backed up by great acting, Saint Maud may be just what you’re looking for. From her body movements to her interactions with all characters within the film, Morfydd Clark does an amazing job playing Maud. In addition, Jennifer Ehle also does an exceptional job portraying Amanda’s Hollywood-addicted lifestyle. 

Admittedly, there are several questions that do not get answered within the film. For example, Maud’s past is never fully explored, nor is the nature of the God’s presence she experiences. When she connects with God, Maud falls into a seizure-like state which leads her to blackout and wake up somewhere else. 

As someone that has grown up within the Christian faith, I see that Saint Maud relate to struggles that most followers face at some time. For instance, because everything that she did was for God, Maud questions and loses her faith, leading her to doing some sinful things. This is a great example of what can happen when we reject God because we’re depressed or things don’t go our way. Instead, we should look to do things for the glory of God, and not our own personal needs. Our obsession with our own desires or doing work to be praised or rewarded is usually what leads us away from God. In this film, Maud really cares about Amanda and the unnamed patient of her past, though her focus is on the obsession of being praised or rewarded by God. As a result, her motivation is not based on the unconditional love within her heart, but for the praises at the attention of saving the soul.

Though it may not be a typical example of the genre when held up against Paranormal Activity and The Conjuring franchises, Saint Maud offers a different type of terror. Well-written and performed, the film shows what can happen when we focus on doing things for our own glory and the damage that can follow.

Saint Maud is now available on VOD.

The Man Who Invented Christmas – Dickens Meets Scrooge

by Leave a Comment

Dickens’s A Christmas Carol is a well-loved story that has had various screen and stage versions and has become as much a part of Christmas as a crèche. The Man Who Invented Christmas is the story behind the story. It is a combination of a look at Dickens, his creative process, and enough of the retelling of the story that we feel we’ve heard it yet again.

In 1843, Charles Dickens (Dan Stevens) is struggling to make ends meet. He has had enormous success as a writer, even touring the U.S., but his last few books have been flops. His family has acquired a lavish lifestyle. He and his wife (Morfydd Clark) spend money as fast as Charles can borrow it. When he goes to pitch a Christmas book he has yet to even conceive, his publisher is uninterested. After all, hardly anyone still celebrated Christmas at that time. He vows to publish it himself and have it ready for Christmas. A pretty bold plan for a man with writers’ block.

At the same time, Dickens’s father John (Jonathan Pryce) comes to visit. The elder Dickens has been a bit of a scoundrel throughout Charles’s life. When John was taken to debtor’s prison, Charles had to work in a work house (cf., Oliver Twist). He has affection for his flamboyant father, but is also ashamed of him.

As he struggles to write the book, he conceives of Scrooge (Christopher Plummer), who comes to life for him, and the two have discussions about the “humbug” of Christmas. Scrooge, you’ll remember is a miserly, self-contained misanthrope. He is not at all like Dickens, which make the two of them struggle over the meaning of the book, and hence Christmas. Many of the things that end up in the book have a genesis in Charles’s day to day life. As such, all of the main beats of A Christmas Carol show up as lines or images at some point in the film so that we come away feeling as if we’ve experienced the story in a new way.

The structure of A Christmas Carol is built around a series of visits from ghosts that show the past, present, and future. As Dickens develops the story around those points of time, the story we watch takes us back to Dickens’s past, the troubles of his present, and the unknown possibilities that rely on the success of this book.

The Man Who Invented Christmas also carries the same message as A Christmas Carol: that the message of Christmas is about loving and sharing with others. For Scrooge, that discovery comes with an understanding of mortality. He becomes aware that all his wealth will mean nothing in the grave. He lives a miserable life when all he cares about is money, but is reborn when he learns to share what he has. Likewise, Dickens must learn that his fame is just as empty as Scrooge’s miserliness. His past—especially in regard to his father—has hardened him within his own family. He must escape the resentments that have consumed his life if he is to find the joy of Christmas that he has been writing about.

Photos courtesy of Bleecker Street