Saint Maud
As a portrait of a descent into madness under the grip of religious fanaticism, it is compellingly portrayed by <PERSON>. But the film spends too much time mired in a tangled mess of themes that it stagnates long before it takes flight. 132
The back half of the film, where it starts to break free of its entropy and move forward with purpose, is significantly better than its front half. But, even in its back half, I can't help but feel that other, more evenly written films - like First Reformed, Silence, and Winter Light - explore similar ideas with greater purpose. Nevertheless, it is a remarkably assured feature debut, and I hope to see more from Rose Glass. 596