David Lowery makes movies that inspire passionate reactions—love or hate, never indifference. His latest, Mother Mary, continues that tradition with a surreal two-hander about a pop icon and her former costume designer. Reviews are split between "visually stunning masterpiece" and "pretentious misfire," which means it's probably fascinating.
The film stars Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel as, respectively, the pop star Mother Mary and her estranged creative partner Sam. It's a ghost story, a psychological drama, and a meditation on artistic collaboration—or it's an overstuffed vanity project, depending on which review you read.
Rotten Tomatoes has it at 78% with a Metacritic score of 64, which tells you everything: critics are divided, but enough of them are on board to suggest this isn't a disaster. The positive reviews praise Lowery's visual ambition and the performances. The negative reviews complain it's too opaque and emotionally distant.
Here's the thing: Lowery made A Ghost Story, one of the most quietly devastating films of the last decade. He also made The Green Knight, which was either a masterpiece of atmospheric storytelling or a boring slog, again depending on who you ask. He swings for the fences, and sometimes that means striking out.
What makes Mother Mary intriguing is the premise itself. A film about a pop star that's also a ghost story could be terrible or brilliant, and Lowery doesn't do anything halfway. With A24 backing and two powerhouse leads, this is the kind of swing-for-the-fences cinema we need more of.
Hathaway and Coel are both capable of extraordinary work. Hathaway can be magnetic or mannered depending on the material; Coel was revelatory in I May Destroy You. Together, in a Lowery film, they're either going to create something unforgettable or... well, something memorable for different reasons.
The mixed reviews suggest this won't be a broad crowd-pleaser. Good. We have enough of those. Mother Mary sounds like the kind of movie that will find its audience—people who want cinema that challenges, provokes, and lingers.
In Hollywood, nobody knows anything—except that David Lowery films are always worth seeing, even when they don't fully work.
