‘Mother Mary’ Review: Preaching the Gospel or Pretentiously Citing Scripture?

BY DANTE ALVAREZ

APRIL 23, 2026 9:50 EST

“Mother Mary”

©A24

In 2024, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour grossed a record breaking 2 billion dollars (in USD) across the year that the tour lasted. This marked Swift’s tour as the highest-grossing tour of all time. Just as many recent filmmakers have (Brady Corbet, Max Minghella, and Parker Finn), David Lowery situates his sprawling identity crisis within the walls of the intense life of the titular popstar. Lowery explores the troubles of identity, fame, and codependency through a singular relationship… at least it tries to.

Lowery’s script struggles to find its footing within the first half. After Mother Mary (Anne Hathaway) suffers a nearly career ending injury, the reunion between her and her ex-costume designer and best friend, Sam Anselm (Michaela Coel), deeply haunting wounds rise to the surface to change both of their lives. The slow descent into bizarre and abstract scenery is not done justice by the self-indulgent and awkward first half. Anne Hathaway takes the stage as the great and renowned Mother Mary in an incredibly restrained and unfortunately fine performance. Opposite of her, and one of the film’s few standouts, Michaela Coel works the screen despite the lacking content she’s given.

“Mother Mary”

©A24

Musically, FKA Twigs, Charli xcx, and Jack Antonoff, at the very least, add an extra layer to the drama. The synths and presentation of the fictional pop hits are incredibly reminiscent of contemporary pop ballads (for better or for worse). However, the real stand out is composer Daniel Hart’s original score. The haunting and ethereal work consistently compliments the visuals within the film.

Behind those visuals, cinematographer Andrew Doz Palmero, a previous collaborator with Lowery, provides a striking picture. The dynamic lighting and camerawork submerge us into Mary’s onstage performance, and more importantly, her backstage worries. While the cinematography translates the grand epic life of a pop star, the editing directly clashes with it often. In the first half, the spontaneous and erratic approach to the editing is quite distracting and disruptive to the more traditional experience it utilizes.

Lowery’s ambition is, without a doubt, still present. The large swings and dedication to a dramatized and stylized narrative struggle at many points, but strive towards greatness. Within the shortcomings of that, the mixed bag struggles to be fully barrier breaking, and the film itself pokes fun at the exhausting metaphors.