Don’t let the title fool you. Mother Mary is defiantly not the latest in a long line of Hollywood’s biblical epics. Instead, it’s an exploration of spirituality and reawakening in the life of a mega-pop star who may be part Beyoncé, part Taylor Swift, part Lady Gaga but certainly mostly an ode to Madonna, or at least a Madonna-style musical icon on the verge of cracking, searching for spiritual answers and repairs to a relationship that fell apart when fame and fortune got in the way.
Coming from David Lowery, a director with an eclectic filmography that can’t be easily defined, this one is much closer in spirit to his esoteric oeuvre a la A Ghost Story, in which Casey Affleck acted largely under a white sheet, and the twisted medieval-ness of The Green Knight, rather than his Disney concoctions like Peter Pan & Wendy and his Robert Redford remake of Pete’s Dragon. In some ways I suppose Mother Mary is his most personal work, a story calling up his own Catholic demons and love for edgy musical performance, especially the daring and influential style of Madonna who had a great impact on him as a child even as his very Catholic parents disapproved. This film has likely been festering a good while.
Essentially a two-hander that in a stripped-down version could easily have worked as an Off Broadway vehicle for its stars, Anne Hathaway, who plays the title role, and Michaela Coel, Lowery in fact has indicated it started out that way as simply a one-location script loaded with dialogue as two artistic souls confront each other about past wrongs and mistakes. However, with elaborate musical numbers and staging and a bigger canvas to play against, Mother Mary marries the most elaborate of music videos and concerts with an intimate portrait of two human beings coming back together, however awkwardly, for the love of art after a near decade of estrangement.
Hathaway, doing everything possible to make us forget she was once the lead of Princess Diaries, is pop icon Mother Mary at the end of her tethered rope when she comes knocking, out of the blue, on the door of the studio of fashion designer Sam Anselm (Coel), whom she hasn’t connected with since essentially dropping her as her costume designer 10 years earlier when bigger names came to dress her once she became a huge global superstar. Now though, in deep personal crisis on every level, she has reverted psychologically and otherwise into a past she longs to recapture, at least for one last concert for which she needs the ultimate outfit — a killer costume that only Sam can design. But Sam is still hurt, a person dumped and now asked to perform a miracle for the onetime friend who abandoned her, not just professionally but personally.
This new confrontation becomes something of a cat-and-mouse game at first, an impossible assignment and arrogant ask. But with deep Catholic mysticism and guilt at its center, Lowery uses the setup to explore a rather fascinating dynamic between two very different artists with one thing in common: they both know the healing effect of art, sure in different ways but with no discernible difference at all as it turns out.
Lowery takes this situation and makes it weirdly mesmerizing with the help of two exceptional stars. At first glance Hathaway, who won an Oscar for her heartfelt musical performance in Les Misérables, is still not my idea of the kind of risk-taking music superstar who can command arenas full of adoring fans. It is to her credit though that she somehow creates the aura of an artist who has done exactly that, and is now paying the price for it. Her eventual moment on stage is pretty thrilling once we finally get there, and Hathaway delivers not just as a performer but also in quieter rounds as she battles her demons to once again take the stage. Coel, on the other hand, is someone clearly once destroyed by this person but now given the upper hand and the key to altering not just a dress but an entire relationship.
Although there is a larger cast involved, all women, this movie does feel like a two-hander after all, so powerful is the dynamic between Hathaway and Coel. However, FKA Twigs, also a key contributor musically, has some visceral moments acting-wise as Imogen, and Hunter Schafer (Euphoria) gets in some licks as Mother Mary’s assistant, particularly in the later going.
Musically, this movie really shines with contributions from Twigs, ace producer Jack Antonoff, Charli xcx and others who are up to the task of creating a believable sound for Mother Mary. Bina Daigeler’s costume design also deserves a shout-out for just the challenge that is called for here.
If Lowery takes just a little bit too long to get to the main event, the getting there is still satisfying enough thanks to his stars and their exceptional chemistry.
Title: Mother Mary
Distributor: A24
Release date: April 17, 2026
Director-screenwriter: David Lowery
Cast: Anne Hathaway, Michaela Coel, Hunter Schafer, Atheena Frizzell, Kaia Gerber, Jessica Brown Findlay, Alba Baptista, Isaura Barbé-Brown, Sian Clifford, FKA twigs
Rating: R
Running time: 1 hr 52 mins
