History Film / SaintMaud

After premiering at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival in September of that year, the film's originally scheduled releases in the following year[[note]]on April 10 in the US, on May 1 in the UK[[/note]] were delayed by the [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic COVID-19 pandemic]]. It eventually received a UK release on October 9, 2020, followed by a limited theatrical release in the US beginning January 29, 2021, and a simultaneous release on VOD platforms and pay television network Creator/MGMPlus on February 12. It was later made available on Creator/{{Hulu}}, Creator/PrimeVideo and later Creator/ParamountPlus as a result of their respective agreements with MGM+[[note]]the film has since been pulled from Hulu due to the expiration of said agreement[[/note]].

* AnAesop: [[spoiler: Attempting to 'save' an unwilling person's soul for selfish, ego-serving reasons only results in destruction and death.]]

* BreakTheHaughty: Uptight, pious Maud has this happen to her over the course of the film via a number of upsetting events. [[spoiler:By the end she's completely lost it, murdering Amanda under the belief that she is Satan and setting herself on fire to "ascend to Heaven".

* TheAlcoholic: Amanda. Maud takes to emptying bottles of booze as part of her soul-saving mission.

* BisexualLoveTriangle: A weird example ---- while still working for Amanda, it seems that Maud is attracted to Amanda, going so far as to spy on her and Carol having sex, and both Amanda and Carol repeatedly accuse Maud of being jealous. However, Maud definitely feels that Amanda is threatening her spiritual connection to God, which Maud repeatedly personifies as a man (including hearing His voice). She even goes so far as to repeatedly reassure God that she knows He's why she's there. So Maud is divided between Amanda and...God.
* BreakTheHaughty: Uptight, pious Maud has this happen to her over the course of the film via a number of upsetting events.

* CuttingBackToReality: The ending, from [[spoiler:Maud glowing, with outstretched wings, looking to the sky in grace as her onlookers kneel down]] to [[spoiler:her, horrifically burned, screaming in agony]] -- for a split second, no less. [[spoiler:At least, this is what's visible to the outsiders. It's left up to the audience to decide if Maud is mentally ill, possessed, or both.]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:After murdering Amanda, Maud calmly walks onto the beach and sets herself on fire. While the scene initially portrays a BittersweetEnding for Maud as she appears to AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence (at least in her mind), the final shot reveals she's actually in excruciating pain and dying horrifically.]]

* InsaneEqualsViolent: [[spoiler:Maud, driven mad by either her rapidly-declining sanity and isolation, or by demonic possession, stabs Amanda to death and then burns herself alive in front of horrified onlookers.]]

** The first occurs [[spoiler:when Amanda, possessed by or revealed to be the Devil, suddenly lurches up and throws Maud across the room]].

* JustHitHim: Played with. [[spoiler:Amanda, while apparently possessed by the Devil,]] throws Maud violently across the room in a demonstration of SuperStrength. On the other hand, this could just imply even further that [[spoiler:Maud is hallucinating and/or threw herself over there, as she is shown to be capable of extreme physical feats]], and even if what happened was real, [[spoiler:it's never made clear if the Devil is ''trying'' to kill Maud or just wants her to lose faith.]] [[spoiler:Maud stabbing the seemingly possessed Amanda ultimately just kills her.]]

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: It's completely possible that Maud is mentally unstable, and every supernatural event that happens in the film is from her hallucinating.

* WhamShot: [[The very last one of Maud burning alive.]]

* AnimalMotif: Maud sees a cockroach crawling on the ceiling after she [[spoiler: accidentally killed a patient]] and one is shown crawling around her apartment. [[spoiler: God begins to speak to Maud after the cockroach crawls towards the shrine on her desk, implying [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith that God was the cockroach.]]]]

* ThousandYardStare: Maud has this in the ColdOpen, covered in blood. [[spoiler:Her hallucinations during the sex scene reveals that she accidentally killed a patient attempting to give CPR.]]

* AnimalMotif: Maud sees a cockroach crawling on the ceiling after she [[spoiler: accidentally killed a patient]] and one is shown crawling around her apartment. [[spoiler: God begins to speak to Maud after the cockroach crawls towards the shrine on her desk, implying [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith that God ''was'' the cockroach.]]]]

* TheAlcoholic: Amanda. Maud takes to emptying bottles of booze as part of her soul-saving mission.

* BisexualLoveTriangle: A weird example - while still working for Amanda, it seems that Maud is attracted to Amanda, going so far as to spy on her and Carol having sex, and both Amanda and Carol repeatedly accuse Maud of being jealous. However, Maud definitely feels that Amanda is threatening her spiritual connection to God, which Maud repeatedly personifies as a man (including hearing His voice). She even goes so far as to repeatedly reassure God that she knows He's why she's there. So Maud is divided between Amanda and...God.

* CrisisOfFaith: Maud at the midpoint of the film. She's fully committed by the end.

* JustHitHim: Played with. [[spoiler:Amanda, while apparently possessed by the Devil,]] throws Maud violently across the room in a demonstration of SuperStrength. On the other hand, this could just imply even further that [[spoiler:Maud is hallucinating and/or threw herself over there, as she is shown to be capable of extreme physical feats]], and even if what happened was real, [[spoiler:it's never made clear if the Devil is ''trying'' to kill Maud or just wants her to lose faith.]]

* GeniusBonus: Amanda's gift to Maud is a collection of works done by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Blake William Blake]], who rejected the idea of sexual repression in the name of religion.

* CleanPrettyReliable: ''Starkly'' averted in the opening scene, as [[spoiler: Maud (then Katie) accidentally collapsed the chest of a patient while trying to administer CPR]].