Written, Edited & Directed By: David Lowery
Cinematography: Andrew Droz Palermo and Rina Yang
Cast: Anne Hathaway, Michaela Coel, Fka Twigs, Hunter Shaffer, Sian Clifford, Jessica Brown Findlay, Kaia Gerber, Alba Baptists
Long-buried wounds rise to the surface when iconic pop star Mother Mary reunites with her estranged best friend and former costume designer, Sam Anselm, on the eve of her comeback performance.
This is a movie that one didn’t dislike and found fascination at times within it, though at some parts of the film, found myself struggling to meet the film, even halfway
There’s clearly a lot happening here, and I admire what writer-director David Lowery is trying to do. The acting is strong, the visuals are inventive, and even the situations themselves feel inspired. There’s a real dramatic idea underneath all of it. The problem is that, somewhere along the way, you start wondering why are you still sitting here waiting for it to fully arrive.
The first half really catches you attention. There’s an energy and mystery to it that makes one curious about where it was going. But by the middle, that curiosity began turning into patience. The second half starts to feel a little empty and monotonous, and while the film continues to look beautiful, the visuals sometimes feel like they’re doing more of the heavy lifting than the story.
And yet, I can’t say I didn’t appreciate it.
This is essentially constructed like a play: a limited location, a handful of actors, and a story that depends heavily on the relationships between them. But Lowery finds clever ways to make the world feel larger than the space we’re actually in. There’s imagination here, and I have to applaud that. This is clearly one of those more personal, artistic projects where a filmmaker is allowed to follow his instincts rather than simply give us what we expect.
The film also leaves plenty of room for interpretation. You can read it as a story about collaboration, ambition, loss, regret, or the complicated ways people remain connected even after they’ve spent years apart. There’s a particularly interesting feeling of loss running underneath everything. The sense that these characters have both lost something important and are still trying to figure out whether they can somehow get a piece of it back.
And then there’s Michaela Coel, who is fantastic.
She has a presence that immediately pulls you in, and she gives the film an emotional center that it desperately needs. I honestly just want to see Michaela Coel in more things. She’s one of those performers who can make you interested simply by watching her think. She walks away with the movie. As I am a fan of her other work, obviously
I really wanted to love this film. I admire its ambition, its originality, and the fact that it actually has something to say. I just wish there were more movie in between all those ideas.
Maybe that’s partly on me. This is the kind of film that asks you to meet it on its own terms, sit with its rhythms, and decide for yourself what it means. And perhaps I simply wasn’t in the mood for that particular challenge.
I can absolutely see myself revisiting the film years from now and appreciating it differently. It’s divisive, certainly, but it’s also the kind of film that gives people something to argue about afterward and honestly, I’ll take that over a movie I completely forget five minutes after leaving the theater.
So while I respect what Mother Mary is attempting, and I genuinely admire the vision behind it, I can’t quite give it the glowing review I wanted to.
It’s ambitious. It’s beautiful. It’s original. I just wish it had given me a little more to hold onto.
Grade: C
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