#REVIEW: “MOTHER MARY”

Review by Nicholas Porteous for Mr. Will Wong

David Lowery, the mind behind a remarkably diverse body of work that includes The Green Knight, Pete’s Dragon, Peter Pan & Wendy, and A Ghost Story proclaims his latest, Mother Mary, “…is not a ghost story” right there in the tagline. I’m genuinely unsure if he’s in denial. But let’s back up. Mother Mary is the tale of the titular pop star (Anne Hathaway), Sam (Michaela Coel)–her former collaborator? Friend? Lover? All of the above?–and their uneasy reunion. Mary needs a dress for her big comeback show, and she’s convinced Sam‘s the only person in the world who can make it. As Sam takes measurements, asks probing questions, and conceptualizes the dress, the two spar like old frenemies. The dialogue is veiled in mysteries and metaphors. Perhaps a few too many. It’s difficult to decipher exactly what either character is getting at most of the time. The spooky vibes of Coel and Hathaway‘s performances suggest a troubling past, but neither character ever comes out and explains what happened between the two, or what exactly is going on in the present. The Screenplay is resolutely confounding, and not necessarily in a fun, ambiguous way. Yes, Mother Mary is grappling with something ineffable and haunting, but I still craved a little clarity–less twisty turny wordplay.

Most of the first act takes place in a giant shed where Sam keeps her materials, and leans heavily into the cloudy conversation. It’s a breath of fresh air when the Movie shifts focus to the flashbacks, flashforwards and dream sequences that move us outside. I could use plenty of adjectives to describe Mother Mary, but ‘ugly’ certainly isn’t one of them. The Cinematography and Costume Design are unrelentingly gorgeous. It’s no wonder that the very first credit (after the film cuts to black) is Dress Designer Iris Van Herpen. I’m not a fashion connoisseur by any stretch, but even if you have a modicum of appreciation for the wardrobes of the rich and famous, you’ll get a kick out of these costumes. It’s too bad the title “Phantom Thread” was already taken. Sometimes I wondered if the story of Mother Mary was just an elaborate delivery device for these haunting visuals, and a hard launch for Hathaway’s evolution into a Pop Star. Her performance, which involves extensive concert sequences, feels incredibly authentic. By the mid-point of Mary, I was convinced that in some alternate universe, Hathaway might have found fame belting anthems to sold-out stadiums.

Truth be told, I’m flummoxed by the sum total of Mother Mary. The Movie really seems to be a ghost story–from a Writer/Director who loves riffing on ghosts. But he explicitly wants me to think of it as something else. But the story is so shrouded in vagaries, its true meaning escapes my grasp like a bewitching fog. It’s a movie fueled by intense vibes, gesturing at something deeper, but unwilling (or unable) to elaborate on what that thing is. While I admire Lowery‘s audacity, and his style alone is enough to sustain one viewing, Mother Mary feels like a failed experiment to fold its more successful influences like Black Swan, Vox Lux, Phantom Thread, and others, into something new.

VVS Films release MOTHER MARY in theatres Friday, April 24, 2026.