Movie Review: Mother Mary

By John Corrado

The tagline for Mother Mary, the latest film from writer-director David Lowery, is “this is not a ghost story.”

It’s a bit of a misnomer, because Mother Mary arguably is one. But it does cleverly differentiate this bold effort from Lowery’s low-key, experimental 2017 film A Ghost Story, an understated gem which starred Casey Affleck in a white sheet as a lonely spirit.

Lowery, whose career has fascinatingly oscillated between indie films and the live-action Disney remakes Pete’s Dragon and Peter Pan & Wendy, makes arguably his biggest swing with Mother Mary.

This is a pop star melodrama turned stealth horror movie replete with symbolism, that is intentionally vague about what it really means, at times prioritizing being a sonic and visual experience over traditional plot. It’s a film that, like the costume being crafted at the centre of it, seems to have been cut together and assembled around idiosyncratic ideas and themes about fame and supernatural connections.

Anne Hathaway stars in the film as the titular Mother Mary, a pop star who has finally recovered after suffering an accident, and is ready to make her big return. Lowery’s film is set in the lead up to her comeback concert when, three days before the performance, she shows up at the studio of her former costume designer Sam Anselm (Michaela Coel).

Mother isn’t feeling what her current designers have come up with, and needs a costume that represents where she is at in her life now. But the two had a falling out at some point in the past, and this reunion brings old feelings and wounds back to the surface. Sam, who created Mother Mary’s religious-inspired looks that came to define her tour, including her signature halos, feels like she was left behind as the pop star rose to fame.

Much of the film takes place in an old barn on Sam’s secluded property that serves as her studio, with the first half essentially being a conversation piece. But, what starts as a pretty simple, even stage-like, two-hander between Hathaway and Coel turns into something far more ethereal and surreal, including a sequence in the middle featuring FKA Twigs when it turns into a full-on horror movie.

Lowery and his cinematographers Andrew Droz Palermo and Rina Yang make full use of the limited set. This is a chamberpiece, but one with a surprising sense of scope to it, as Lowery seamlessly segues into the massive stadium concert scenes. These impressively realized sequences were modelled after Taylor Swift’s Reputation tour, when the pop star embraced a much darker aesthetic. Lady Gaga also seems to be a clear stylistic touchpoint.

The soundtrack features new music credited to Charli XCX, Jack Antonoff and FKA Twigs, who provide the original pop songs that are credibly performed by Hathaway’s character in the film. The physicality of Hathaway’s performance is on full display during a dance that she performs in the barn sans music, her contortions bordering on demonic possession. Coel delivers so much through reaction shots, her character gaining the upper hand and controlling the situation through every carefully chosen word.

It doesn’t all work, and can occasionally feel a bit repetitive at times. This is a film that plays around with metaphors, and is intentionally coy about what it really means. And, needless to say, it will be divisive, with the first and second halves challenging the audience in their own distinct ways. But it’s enough of an ambitious swing, with a pair of captivating performances from Hathaway and Coel at the centre, to make this another interesting cinematic statement from Lowery.