Horror has a way of using cinema like a blade. Sometimes the cuts are hard, fast, and violent. The viewer is left a bloody and pleading mess. Other times, the dagger is slipped in gently, easily, almost unnoticeably…until it is twisted, and at that point there’s no point in pleading.

Rose Glass’ debut feature, SAINT MAUD, is the latter.

Set in an English seaside town, SAINT MAUD is the story of Maud and Amanda. Maud (Morfydd Clark) is a palliative caregiver living alone in a depressing bachelor basement apartment. She is charged with taking care of Amanda (Jennifer Ehle) – a retired dancer who is now riddled with cancer, and secluded in a swank mansion on the cliffs. Besides being intrigued and mildly infatuated with Amanda, Maud is also deeply devoted to God. She talks to God every single day (several times), and seeks the almighty’s guidance after some misdeeds earlier in life.

Amanda doesn’t really believe in God…but she finds Maud amusing, so what the hell. Eventually Maud’s devotion will fracture the relationship, and lead her down a path. Whether that path is into the darkness or the light remains to be seen.

What begins as a classic Gothic Romance soon turns into something far more mesmerizing and macabre. Pulling threads from the tapestries of ALL ABOUT EVE, SUNSET BOULEVARD, MISERY, CARRIE, and STIGMATA, SAINT MAUD is a cinematic offering that is both old school and old testament. It’s a tale about wanting so desperately to be seen, that one will sacrifice their bodies and souls to be noticed.

Sinners once atoned for their misdeeds with blood and tears. Maud still believes that is a path to salvation, and there’s nobody close to her to talk her down off the pyre.

The structure of this movie is what makes it so effective and yet such a challenge. This film is introspective, cerebral, chilling, and patient. In the dark of a theatre, such an approach is like a slow-working toxin being dripped into one’s ear. At home though, it may suffer from the usual distractions that come with sofa cinema. This is tragic, since SAINT MAUD is expertly crafted, and goes out of its way to play every card it lays down.

With SAINT MAUD, Rose Glass has given us a story that feels like it has always been part of the lexicon, and at the same time, so very fresh and modern. It’s a chilling climb from Maud’s basement apartment to Amanda’s manor on the hill, but a climb well worth making.