Mother Mary Review: David Lowery's Threadbare Ghost Yarn Is Story-Light & Vibe-Heavy
Mother Mary works, but it’s more thanks to the caliber of its central performances than the narrative itself.
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It’s a great time to be a fan of horror/thrillers and believably Coachella-worthy pop songstresses. M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap used the stadium show of Lady Raven (Saleka Night Shyamalan) to catch a serial killer daddy. Parker Finn’s ode to terrible pearly whites, Smile 2, sees the smile entity torment troubled performer Skye Riley (Naomi Scott). It’s harder than one might think to craft a believably popular world-class starlet because everything has to vibe right: the performances, the songs, and the central cast. In David Lowery’s Mother Mary, Anne Hathaway shines as the titular pop princess, and Michaela Coel is phenomenal, but there's a limit to a filmmaking strategy that otherwise rests on vibes alone.
Mother Mary (Hathaway) is a pop star attempting to restore her career after taking an odd step off a high platform in the middle of a show. Everyone’s asking: Did she mean to jump? But Mother Mary, oddly patterning herself after Jesus’ folkloric mama, has other troubles. She can’t sleep and is plagued by a supernatural appearance she can’t shake, so she returns to fashion designer Sam (Michaela Coel) to make a dress for her new tour. The pair came up together before Mary left her behind, adding layers of vulnerability and tension as they try to make a dress and get to the bottom of what ails the celestial matriarch.
Anne Hathaway delivers a solid performance as the emotionally raw Mary, who genuinely wonders if her supernatural visions might make this tour her last. It’s a fully embodied turn, with rich emotion, disconcerting dances, and realistic panic. As the hurt but self-possessed designer Sam Anselm, Michaela Coel is genuinely incredible. Every moment of her performance is powerful and charismatic, showcasing an electric level of talent that anchors the film.
The film predominantly rests on the interaction between the pair in a spatially constrained locale. They have a well-developed strained chemistry that works, tenuous and riddled with pain. The casting is a strong point, though some of the emotional back-and-forth is repetitive. Mary is emotionally strained and bears a new layer of her distressed soul to Sam, who, at an emotional distance, tortures her a little before opening up more in subtle ways. Wash, rinse, repeat.
If you’ve seen Lowery’s A Ghost Story or The Green Knight, you’ll be well prepared for his overall approach here. Mother Mary boasts beautiful visuals and is willing to slowly tease out the crux of the narrative and its possibly supernatural elements. It’s somber and mysterious, feeling a bit more like a classic European folktale than a traditional film. For this material, that’s largely positive with a few notable negatives.
For much of the film, Mary transports. The performances feel intimate and authentic throughout, and the added supernatural layer creates a dreamy and memorable element. (The real pity is that the title Phantom Thread is taken.) That said, it’s a slow burn. Whether or not that mysterious-vibes-heavy approach to this narrative is rewarding for audiences, if it works or not, hinges a bit on personal preference.
While it seems like the otherworldly element can be read as real within the world, it’s not fully clear that it isn’t a shared delusion. Some audiences like uncertain endings, which may or may not be visual metaphors for psychological unease. That approach feels over-stretched here, like too little fabric on the verge of ripping apart. The logic behind the apparition, real or not, works best the less one thinks about its in-world explanation.
In terms of the aforementioned 'vibes' themselves, they're capably accomplished. Mother Mary's otherworldly looks, a crimson specter, and elaborately narrated memories are all woven before our eyes as Hathaway and Cole share stories. We see solid costuming and interesting visuals pop in and out of the darkness, which is executed with precision. It keeps a film that takes place in tight quarters from feeling claustrophobic and allows for greater world-building than one might expect from the tale.
Altogether, Mother Mary works, but it’s more thanks to the caliber of its central performances than the narrative itself. Hathaway is raw and quite good (little surprise there), while Michaela Coel is a full-scale powerhouse. This story about the reunion of an estranged artist and her dressmaker under possibly supernatural conditions is threadbare, and it doesn’t necessarily add all that much to distinguish itself from ghostly yarns and besieged songstress tales that have come before. That said, if vibes are what you want, it provides them aplenty (while adding a metric ton of cool new crowns for Lowery’s collection).
Grade: C
Mother Mary haunts your multiplex Friday.
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