Being alone indoors is a common facet of pandemic life, but in
The Vigil and
Saint Maud, it’s also a recipe for religious horror. These two films, which recently hit VOD and streaming, bend in opposite directions yet are cut from the same cloth. Both have first-time writer-directors at the helm and both are distributed by indie-horror labels (
IFC Midnight and
A24, respectively). Moreover, both center on an isolated individual who comes to believe that a supernatural force is reaching out to them. In
The Vigil, it’s a demon from Jewish folklore, the mazzik. In
Saint Maud, it’s a Welsh-speaking version of God himself.