Mother Mary Movie Review: Anne Hathaway Stars in A24 Pop Star Horror

David Lowery’s Mother Mary, an A24 production, has arrived as a genre-bending chamber drama that blends the spectacle of modern pop stardom with elements of a gothic ghost story. The film stars Anne Hathaway as the titular pop icon, Mother Mary, whose professional and emotional crisis leads her back to a strained relationship from her past.

The narrative centers on Mary, a global superstar who prematurely ends her tour following an emotional crisis. In a state of distress, she seeks out Sam Anselm, played by Michaela Coel, a fashion designer and former best friend who helped craft Mary’s public diva persona. The two have been estranged for more than a decade and their reunion occurs in a shadowy workroom where Mary requests a new outfit.

A Blend of Musical and Supernatural Elements

While the film is presented as a music drama, it deviates from traditional structures by incorporating supernatural themes. The plot involves long-buried wounds and a story described as being sewn together… By phantom threads, moving beyond a simple love story or ghost story to what the trailer characterizes as a prayer.

The production is a musical, featuring stage performances and a soundtrack with reported contributions from Jack Antonoff and Charli XCX. Critics have noted the film’s operatic quality, with some describing it as an attempt to meld the scale of a stadium tour with the thematic structure of A Christmas Carol.

Inspirations from the Eras Tour

Director David Lowery has explicitly cited Taylor Swift as a primary inspiration for the character of Mother Mary and the film’s visual execution. Specifically, Lowery drew heavily from the Reputation Tour to inform the movie’s concert sequences.

Lowery revealed that his team used the Reputation concert film as a budgeting and technical guide. By breaking down three specific songs from that tour shot-by-shot, the production was able to determine the costs of visual effects required to simulate a stadium concert on a minimal budget.

Cast and Production Details

The film marks Anne Hathaway’s first cinematic appearance following her role in the rom-com The Idea of You. For Michaela Coel, the project represents her first theatrical role since appearing as Aneka in the 2022 film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

The supporting cast includes a variety of notable performers:

• FKA Twigs
• Hunter Schafer
• Kaia Gerber
• Jessica Brown Findlay
• Sian Clifford
• Alba Baptista
• Atheena Frizzell
• Isaura Barbé-Brown

The film is characterized by its focus on the transformative power of pop music and the psychological tension between the two lead characters, as their shared sordid history and mutual feud drive the central conflict of the story.