The Saint (2016 film)

The Saint (Lithuanian: Šventasis) is a Lithuanian film written and directed by Andrius Blaževičius and released in 2016.

It is a social drama exploring themes of social pressure, vulnerability, masculinism, the role of religion in our society, and the fragility of post-Soviet countries in the late 2010s.

Plot
Lithuanian provincial town is facing the economic crisis in 2008. Vytas, portrayed by Marius Repšys, gets fired from the factory. Pushed by his wife, he immediately starts looking for a new job, but not really successfully. After having his haircut done, Vytas starts looking for a new love affair with a hairdresser Marija, played by Gelmine Glemzaite. This is not really successful either. Finally, Vytas gets involved into a third search – he starts looking for a guy who posted video on YouTube, claiming he saw Jesus Christ in their town. This is the only time he succeeds.

Cast
• Marius Repšys as Vytas

• Indre Patkauskaite as Jurate

• Gelmine Glemzaite as Marija

• Valentinas Krulikovskis as Petras

• Lukas Malinauskas as The Saint

• Arturas Aleksejevas as Edgaras

• Egle Anceviciute as Partygoer

• Jonas Braskys as Rokas

• Erikas Brazauskas as Kindergarten boy

• Remigijus Bucius as Neighbor

• Karolis Butvydas as Partygoer

• Vladimir Dorondov as Consultant

• Martyna Gedvilaite as Pop group 'Illusion'

• Karolina Griciute as Ausra

• Aurelija Jogaudaite as Partygoer

• June Juknelyte as Dovile's girl

• Jelena Juscenko-Kirijeva as Secretary

• Jurijus Karanas as Marija's father

• Elija Kavaliauskaite as Girl with umbrella

• Urte Kavaliauskaite as Indre's girl

• Dangiras Masionis as Sacristan

• Darius Meskauskas as Employer

• Ignas Misiura as Man in suit

• Sandra Navickaite as Pop group 'Illusion'

• Marius Pocevicius as Partygoer

• Tomas Pukys as Partygoer

• Agnieska Ravdo as Algina

• Ilona Rekuviene as Marija's mother

• Dovile Silkaityte as Grazina

• Audrius Tamulionis as Elderly man

• Justas Tertelis as Partygoer

• Liubov Tymochova as Petras' mother

Production
This is the first feature film of Andrius Blaževičius. After producing his graduation short film Ten reasons (2011), Lithuanian producer Marija Razgutė (M-Films) signed a second collaboration with the director for his first feature film The Saint, originally titled Crisis.

The film had one of the best openings at the Lithuanian box office in 2017. It remained in the number one spot for its second week in Lithuania and exceeded 66,000 admissions in its first week of release, accounting for nearly a quarter of all entries for the week.

Reception
The film received generally positive reviews from critics. It garnered over 70% positive reviews, with an average score of 3.4/5 based on 154 collected reviews on the website Letterboxd.