It is curious that two Anne Hathaway films revolving around fashion, where red fabric takes centre stage, are being released imminently. This one, Mother Mary, is a far weirder prospect than the mainstream appeal of The Devil Wears Prada 2. Whether that is a good thing or not depends on your tolerance for the theatrical, the symbolic, and the witchy.
A Film of Two Halves
Mother Mary is a movie of two halves. One is a full-scale pop superstar concert, musically powered by Charli XCX and sold with dazzling conviction by Hathaway, which we keep dipping into. The other is an intense drama about a break-up between Mary and her ex-bestie, renowned designer Sam Anselm, played by Michaela Coel. This second element is delivered as an intimate two-hander between Coel's rage-filled Sam and Hathaway's broken and spiky Mary. The actors keep you on edge from the moment a sodden Mary bursts into Sam's isolated country residence in the middle of a thunderstorm, on the eve of her comeback, to announce: 'I need a dress.'
The work will be done in a dark and atmospheric barn where Sam announces that she has entered her 'Miss Havisham period ahead of schedule.' To give you an idea of just how seriously we are taking this dress, Sam vows that it will represent 'the transubstantiation of feeling' — the film is packed with Catholic symbolism — and there are a lot of feelings with a capital 'F' flying around. Sam confesses she cracked a tooth hate-watching a show on Mother Mary's last tour after their break-up and no longer listens to her music, while the pop star aggressively dances for her former pal before revealing she is being haunted by a red spirit now locked inside her body.
Supernatural and Body Horror Elements
This brings Mother Mary into its supernatural and body horror elements. Writer-director David Lowery certainly does not feel constricted by genre. FKA twigs turns up to conduct a rather erotically-charged séance for Mary and her team. Fleabag's Sian Clifford, Euphoria star Hunter Schafer, and Kaia Gerber are all part of the entourage, with frustratingly limited screentime.
Key Details
- Director: David Lowery
- Writer: David Lowery
- Cast: Anne Hathaway, Michaela Coel, Hunter Schafer, FKA twigs, Atheena Frizzell, Kaia Gerber, Jessica Brown Findlay, Alba Baptista, and Sian Clifford
- Age rating: 15
- Run time: 112 minutes
- Release date: The film is in UK cinemas from Friday, April 24.
Mother Mary's constantly morphing identity is a lot for Lowery to juggle, but he leans into it, relishing the heightened theatricality over the realistic in a way that will sharply divide audiences. This also means we are kept guessing where Mother Mary will go next, freed as it is from the shackles of restraint or convention, providing an extra nervous energy and edge to the experience of watching it.
Anne Hathaway's Convincing Pop Royalty
Hathaway, though, does enough to convince anyone she is established pop royalty in the mould of Madonna, Beyoncé, and Taylor Swift, by the power of the perpetually busy Charli XCX — hot off sculpting songs for Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights, among other things — Jack Antonoff, and FKA twigs' compelling, stadium-filling songs for the soundtrack. She has charisma enough to command the stage, owning the film's tracks and looking the part thanks to her bleached hair and Ariana Grande-coded delicate hand tattoos.
Mother Mary is the kind of film experience you have to surrender to, for it has the power to put you in a trance — even if it is a lot of everything, all at once. However, no one can quibble that it is, at the very least, both aesthetically and aurally gorgeous. It is an unashamedly peculiar film that many will not have the patience for, if the critic loudly snoring next to me in my screening is anything to go by. But if you fancy Practical Magic with a lot more blood and bite, spliced together with a Lady Gaga concert, it could just work for you.
Verdict
Mother Mary is a marmite movie elevated by its powerhouse central duo, and reminds everyone that Anne Hathaway is a quietly brilliant talent. Mother Mary is in UK and Irish cinemas from today.
