Saint Maud
Director: Rose Glass

Horror is the perfect genre with which to depict the mental isolation of a young woman spiralling into a breakdown. Saint Maud, writer-director Rose Glass’ breathtakingly accomplished debut feature, employs several traditional horror tropes, not to create a Halloween frightfest, but to tell a touching story of how religious faith can slide into dangerously delusional territory.

Saint Maud opens with a sharply edited glimpse of classic gore, and moves quickly to a spooky house on the hill inhabited by an eccentric and dying woman. An otherworldly soundtrack and haunting lighting design combine to bring us to the edge of our seats. Yet these elements do not menace and terrify the characters in the film, rather they illuminate the horror of their interior worlds.