THE STORY – In a small town, a solitary woman is haunted by voices that lead her to assassinate ill-intended people and get away with it, until her last kill sucks her down a rabbit hole riddled with corruption, trafficking, and visions from the beyond.
THE CAST – Bella Thorne, Rebecca De Mornay, Frank Whaley & Ryan Phillippe
THE TEAM – Mitzi Peirone (Director/Writer) & Guinevere Turner (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 92 Minutes
“Everything I have said and done has been in the hands of God. I was born to do this, I am not afraid.” No, that’s not a line from a Nike commercial, it’s a quote attributed to everyone’s favorite martyr, Joan of Arc. And it’s frequently invoked in “Saint Clare,” the new kind of horror, kind of comedy film from director Mitzi Peirone. This righteously angry story explores the type of vigilante vengeance that has become quite popular in the types of films the Internet loves to promote as “good for her” movies. As such, it can’t be said that the film necessarily explores new territory, although the way it manages to get the audience to quite literally see things from its main character’s point of view makes this a compelling exercise in the power of film to depict perspective.
The titular Joan of Arc fan, as played by Bella Thorne, is a young woman attending a prestigious school in a town that has had dozens of women go missing over the past 30 years. This disturbs Clare, who is beset by seemingly supernatural visions, including that of a chatty dead mailman named Bob (Frank Whaley) who accidentally died in front of Clare some years ago. Bob acts as essentially a sarcastic Jiminy Cricket, making snarky but helpful comments that only she can hear. The two of them work to get to the bottom of the mystery that their town has gotten all too used to, although a nosy detective (Ryan Phillippe) has suspicions about Clare that may hinder her extrajudicial investigation.
Peirone excels at making the audience see the world through Clare’s eyes, helping us understand exactly why she does the not-always-orthodox things she does. She switches up the film’s visual style to make it feel as if we’re occupying Clare’s brain (much like Bob does). Claustrophobic cinematography and dizzying editing are employed to achieve this, along with dynamic lighting shifts and colorization choices. Overall, the film looks spectacular, helping elevate it aesthetically above movies that cover similar topics with a more grounded approach.
Thorne completely envelops herself in the character of Clare, playing her as appropriately spunky and resourceful while not shying away from the more prickly elements of Clare’s personality that might be off-putting if portrayed less compellingly. She draws both other characters and viewers in with her magnetic presence, and her variety of characterization choices keeps the audience on their toes. She never approaches a scene with the same tactic twice. As the grandmother who helped raise the orphaned Clare, Rebecca De Mornay delivers a passionate and emotionally captivating performance. She’s introduced in a very “I’m a cool mom” way (or rather, cool grandma), but she shows up when needed on behalf of her granddaughter, whom she clearly adores. Phillippe’s detective character is fairly one-note, which is narratively necessary. Still, he doesn’t do much with the character to make him interesting or anything more than a speed bump in Clare’s plot. And later in the film, his character makes some nonsensical choices that are just plainly distracting.
In fact, the film’s entire final act strains credulity. Too often, thrillers have a habit of subverting the audience’s expectations towards their conclusion in a way that may be momentarily shocking, but ultimately unfulfilling when reflected upon after the credits have finished rolling. “Saint Clare” is an unfortunate member of this club, with an ending that’s undeniably impactful but far too abrupt and out of nowhere to elicit any reaction beyond fleeting surprise. The film’s tone is inconsistent, which works in some places – Clare’s classmate Amity (Erica Dasher) is portrayed as lovingly clueless, at one point saying, “I invoke the sixth” in a moment of stress. However, some of the humorous moments are too broad to work with the film’s energy, such as all the scenes involving Clare’s participation in a school play, overseen by a comedically dictatorial director.
Thorne is easily the best aspect of “Saint Clare,” and given that she’s on-screen for nearly the entire film, her performance is crucial in making the film work. And while her character may oscillate between being grounded and mentally upended, the film’s similarly scattered tone is more distracting than effective.
