Mother Mary – Film Review
Reviewed by Damien Straker on the 23rd of May 2026
VVS Films presents a film by David Lowery
Written by David Lowery
Produced by Toby Halbrooks, Jeanie Igoe, James M. Johnston, David Lowery, Jonas Katzenstein, Maximilian Leo, Jonathan Saubach
Starring Anne Hathaway, Michaela Coel, Hunter Schafer, Atheena Frizzell, Kaia Gerber, Jessica Brown Findlay, Isaura Barbé-Brown, Alba Baptista, Sian Clifford, and FKA Twigs
Cinematography Andrew Droz Palermo and Rina Yang
Edited by David Lowery
Music by Daniel Hart
Rating: MA15+
Running Time: 110 minutes
Release Date: the 14th of May 2026
On paper Mother Mary has all the right elements. It has three strong actresses at its disposal and an intriguing dramatic premise that is ripe for personal conflict. The artistry of its director, David Lowery, cannot be denied either. However, the story he has written crumbles. It becomes increasingly confusing about what is unfolding. The images sacrifice clarity and understanding for visual panache. This trade-off is unsatisfying. What should have been a tense psychological battle between two women reuniting instead becomes overly confusing and strange.
The opening shows a lot of promise. Anne Hathaway plays pop singer Mother Mary. She makes a hasty trip to London to reunite with an old friend. At a manor house Mary is greeted first by Hilda (Euphoria’s Hunter Schafer) but quickly brushes past her. Instead, she seeks out Sam (Michaela Coel) with whom she used to collaborate. Since Sam is a talented fashion designer, Mary pleads with her to design a new dress that will herald her comeback. The challenge is they only have a few days to create something unique, and Sam is also tepid about reuniting. Tension between the two women simmers as they share grievances in a barn away from the main house. If this sounds straight forward so far prepare for a rude shock.
David Lowery is a particularly interesting and varied filmmaker. His directorial career has shifted between two different lanes. He has made several mainstream films for Disney, including Pete’s Dragon (2016) and Peter Pan and Wendy (2023). These commercial projects have granted him the freedom to create ambitious arthouse projects, including A Ghost Story (2017), The Old Man and the Gun (2018), and The Green Knight (2021). These three films showed the director, still only forty-five, makes his passion projects with great skill and care. He is unafraid to imbue them with interesting thematic ideas that defy conventional Hollywood beats. This is true about Mother Mary too. However, he has tried too hard to invert his own narrative.
There are some undeniably provocative images throughout the film. The huge barn is an interesting setting for personal conflict. It is photographed using deep focus lenses by Lowery and cinematographers Andrew Droz Palermo and Rina Yang so that we see deep into the environment. The old fashioned, rustic setting marks a strong visual representation of the past resurfacing as the main characters air their grievances. The concert scenes are also appropriately cinematic. The arena is blackened and mostly lit up by the white lights in the audience. It is befitting of the story’s gothic mood. The visuals become increasingly bizarre. A repeated image is a red piece of fabric that might be possessed (yes, really). Its handsomely framed but it leads you to ask what the director is saying. Strangely, the film’s music by Charlie XCX and Jack Antanoff is completely forgettable too. The songs are not a huge focus, but it lessens the comparisons Lowery has made to Taylor Swift and Beyonce.
The abstract visuals coincide with a story that fumbles between surreal and ridiculous. The tension between the two women is so well acted by Hathaway and Coel that we long for the bizarre plotting to step aside. Hathaway perfectly projects Mary’s desperation through her defeated body language. Coel is absolutely bewitching with the power she holds over Mary. Consequently, the more the story veers from their personal conflict the less engaging it is. Instead of gently unpacking the interpersonal feud between the two women, the story pursues witchcraft, possessed fabric, and self-harm! It is a pity that Hunter Schafer’s Hilda is not woven more prominently into these narrative threads. She’s relegated to being Sam’s helper without much dialogue or characterisation. She is too passive for Schafer’s strong screen presence. As such, the film would have been more engaging if it relied on the actors’ tension alone rather than its opaque storytelling.
Lowery’s film is not without serious merits. The leading women in the film ensure the opening quarter is mesmerising as we question why the two characters have fallen out. Lowery is undoubtedly flexing his artistic sensibilities too. His film benefits from some visual finesse and imagination typical of his oeuvre. However, the story is also talky and lacking thematic clarity. The time and energy spent wondering what is real and imagined dissolves the characters’ personal tension. We will never feel entirely sure about what has occurred between them because the imagery distorts the narrative. One admires the artistry, but the rest of the exercise leaves us cold.
Summary: On paper Mother Mary has all the right elements. What should have been a tense psychological battle instead becomes overly confusing and strange.
2.5
Convoluted
About the Author
Damien Straker is a freelance writer and film critic. He studied at the University of Sydney and graduated with an Arts Honours degree in Film Studies. He is a pop culture aficionado and enjoys talking about all films, 90s TV shows, ninjas and watching Rugby League. His favourite film directors are Alfonso Cuarón, Clint Eastwood and Alexander Payne.
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