Why we picked it – This debut film from an British writer/director is a psychological horror thriller and an entirely different take on religion to Out of the City which we showed last December.

Synopsis – Self-effacing Maud has found God and is zealous in her spiritual devotion. She is an agency nurse in a run-down seaside town. Her new client is Amanda, a wealthy but terminally-ill, dancer with a younger feral lover, Carol, and a gallery of louche friends. Maud becomes obsessed with saving Amanda’s soul and is ecstatic when Amanda responds. But Amanda is toying with her. Maud has a darker past. Is she a genuine religious mystic or is her sanity failing? The film leaves us doubt right up to the end.

The film – Originally due for release in April 2020, this film was held up due to lockdown. Classic psychological film drama is reinterpreted with modern realism. A sombre colour palette, an eerie sound score and unobtrusive special effects produce a masterful combination of horror and a study in loneliness.

Director: Rose Glass, UK 2019 83 mins (15) Writer: Rose Glass. Cinematography: Ben Fordesman. Cast: Morfydd Clark, Jennifer Ehle, Lily Frazer.

Rose Glass was recognised by BAFTA as a 2019 Breakthrough Brit.

Links Evening Standard review Guardian review FT review imdb entry

Trivia – When Rose Glass heard Morfydd Clark talking to her relatives on the telephone, she decided that God would speak in Welsh.