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Belief in the films Saint Maud (2019) and Heretic (2024)

This essay includes major spoilers for both Saint Maud and Heretic, read at your own risk!

Saint Maud and Heretic are two films which focus on the lives of religious people as main characters. Both pose the same question: What does true belief look like?

In Saint Maud, the main character is a recent Catholic convert who believes that she can communicate with God. In Heretic, the two main female characters are both Mormons who are on their mission trip. Both films include moments of the main characters attempting to convert people to their faith, both for the main reason of salvation. In Saint Maud, the film follows Maud as she attempts to "save" the soul of her dying patient, Amanda, under God's instruction. Maud's faith seems to rely entirely on the encounters that she has had with God, most notably when she feels God is pleased with her for trying to convert Amanda. The basis of Maud's faith is proof - her faith is completely reliant on the "feedback" God gives her based on her actions, and therefore she tries to live according to scripture because she knows God will punish her otherwise.

In Heretic Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton are on their Mormon mission trip when they meet Mr Reed, who invites them into his house and locks them inside. This forces them to participate in his deadly games, which focus primarily on discrediting their belief in the Christian God and attempting to get them to admit that, at its centre, religion is just a way to control people and has no benefits. Sister Barnes and Paxton in Heretic have a different sort of belief from Maud; they both, particularly Sister Paxton, have a belief that even if there's no proof of God's existence, they are willing to believe anyway, regardless of the cost. One particular moment that defines this is at the end of the film, when Sister Paxton mentions an experiment that, when tested, prayer does not work. However, she decides that prayer is still worthwhile because it considers the lives of others rather than exclusively one's own. This statement is particularly impactful, as the audience almost expects her to give up on her faith, as she has suffered so much and yet her belief stays strong.

In direct contrast to this, in Saint Maud, Maud only prays for others when she thinks it will benefit her relationship with God. For example, when she meets a homeless man, she gives him a small amount of change and then asks God to bless him rather than help the man in a more proactive way. Maud's relationship with Amanda is another example of this; she is only willing to treat Amanda as a person rather than just a patient when she learns that she might be able to convert her and save her soul. One could argue that Maud doesn't want to save Amanda's soul because she really cares about her, but only really because God told her to, and she doesn't want to disobey him. However, a more sympathetic view of Maud's attempted conversion of Amanda is that she doesn't want Amanda to die and would rather have an eternal life in the Kingdom of God. This also relates to the flashback of Maud trying and failing to save a woman's life in the hospital - Maud doesn't want to "kill" Amanda by not converting her before she dies. Either way, Maud's actions are done solely out of fear and sometimes selfishness rather than true belief, putting into doubt whether she makes choices in the name of God or only pretends to. This is affirmed in the middle of the film that after failing to convert Amanda, and without God's guidance, Maud falls into everything she had judged Amanda and others for, such as being drunk and acting provocatively. As soon as Maud realises she finds no joy in a life without God, she asks for His forgiveness and is guided once more to a life of devotion. It makes you wonder, what would Maud's reaction be if she had gotten no answer from God? Would she have abandoned her faith that she had once proudly identified with?

Compared to the circumstances of Sister Paxton and Sister Barnes, who have not done substantially anything wrong, Maud's choices are in direct correlation with her actions, e.g when she disobeys God, she suffers. Sister Paxton and Sister Barnes have no good reason to be kidnapped by Mr Reed, and yet their belief, particularly that of Sister Paxton, barely wavers. In a test to put their faith into question, Mr Reed gives the girls two options to exit his house: belief in God and disbelief. They choose to go down that of belief even if it means they will not be able to escape when they make their choice, "Let’s be honest and sincere, and let God decide what happens next." (Sister Barnes after choosing the door of belief). Sister Paxton and Sister Barnes have no heavenly notion of which door to go down, but they choose to believe in God even when faced with adversity. This begs the question - does Maud's proof of God's existence make her a more 'real' believer than Sister Paxton, who even admits that she doesn't believe in prayer? Can proof lead to belief, or does belief lead one to finding proof? From Heretic, we learn that proof can be used simply to control religious people, particularly those who doubt their faith. However, Mr Reed wrongly assumes that Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton would completely abandon their faith when faced with a very believable piece of proof that his God is real and theirs is not. This instead proves that their own deeper belief has led them to a belief in the proof they have found themselves in their own lives, e.g Sister Barnes' near-death experience, forming the conclusion in Heretic that belief can lead to more personal and often less concrete proofs. The idea that proof of God can control one's belief system could also be an interpretation of Maud's belief in God. After being unable to save a patient's life, which completely traumatises her, Maud encounters proof of God's existence and allows her belief to dictate her life out of fear that she may kill someone again. This doesn't expose Maud's encounter with God as imaginary, although that is an interpretation, but it does explain her all-or-nothing approach to her faith. Both films entertain the idea that their God is imaginary, but also give the audience contradicting scenes alongside. Saint Maud ends with her angelic ascent into heaven, but it is quickly followed by a shot of her burning alive. Likewise, Heretic ends with Sister Paxton's escape and encounter with a butterfly, an animal she mentions she will turn into when she dies, but the scene ends with a shot of her alone.

So what do the films tell us about the appearance of true belief? Is Maud's exorcism of Amanda more or less real than Sister Barnes rising from the dead? Does Maud's "post-traumatic conversion" make her less of a believer than Sister Barnes, who grew up believing in God but expresses her doubts during the film? In my opinion, they both lead to the same conclusion: true belief is up to the individual's perception; it all depends on how you perceive things. Maud and Sister Paxton may have spent their last moments in delusion, but they both found true joy in their faith - even if it was manicial at times - and so I believe that no matter the hints of "real-life" in the film's conclusion, their version of events is the canon.