David Lowery’s ‘Mother Mary’ – Review Thread

Long-buried wounds rise to the surface when iconic pop star Mother Mary reunites with her estranged best friend and former costume designer on the eve of her comeback performance.

Director: David Lowery

Cast: Anne Hathaway, Michaela Coel, Hunter Schafer

Rotten Tomatoes: 78%

Metacritic: 64 / 100

Some Reviews:

Fresh Fiction – Courtney Howard – 5 / 5

As a kissing cousin to SMILE 2 and VOX LUX, MOTHER MARY is wholly unique in its innovative aims. The heady sentiments and haute couture combine in a hallucinatory visual feast.

IndieWire – David Ehrlich – 'A-'

What happens when two people, or even two sides of the same person, are bound together by a shared feeling of unshakeable absence? The same thing that happened in another of Lowery’s films: They haunt each other to the ends of the earth. Every song becomes a seance, every bump in the night turns into evidence of a specter. Quoth Virginia Woolf: “Whatever hour you woke there was a door shutting.” This beguiling movie flings them back open just as fast, as it explores how art — and maybe art alone — has the power to heal the wounds that can make it hurt so much in the first place. It’s not a ghost story, it’s a resurrection.

IGN – Clint Gage – 8 / 10

David Lowery’s latest is a visually fascinating chamber piece with great performances from Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel. The story of old wounds between former friends and creative partners isn’t the most relatable mannequin on which to assemble a film, so the story of icon Mother Mary and couture designer Sam doesn’t have enough range to carry the film through its final moments. However, everything else, from the sound design to the cinematography and the operatic fantasy of this pop star ghost story (a subgenre I wouldn’t have pegged as “up my alley” but here we are) makes Mother Mary a great piece of art.

Next Best Picture – Dan Bayer – 8 / 10

Lowery, clearly fascinated by the plight of the modern pop star, has made “Mother Mary” with both the fervor of a fan and the insight of a fellow artist. The questions the film asks about the identity of pop stars as well as the ownership of their music, their image, and their very souls don’t all have answers, and Lowery doesn’t provide them. He does, however, provide plenty of food for thought as he asks these questions, interrogating the relationship between artists and their audience and what each owes the other. If the surrealism of the film’s last act feels both too much and not enough, at least Lowery dares to take the story in that direction, exploring the spiritual connection between artistic collaborators in an original way. In all the best ways, “Mother Mary” is like a great pop song: Its gleaming surfaces conceal a deeper, darker meaning only discernible through close attention, but that darkness is the magic that keeps you coming back to experience it again and again.

CBR – Rachel Leishman – 8 / 10

Mother Mary is, at its core, just a breathtaking showcase of Coel and Hathaway's talent as performers. The two-hander scenes could feel dry and flat but both Coel and Hathaway use the pain of their former friendship to their advantage and makes this duo something absolutely magical.

Slant Magazine – Rocco T. Thompson – 3 / 4

Doors are oft-referenced throughout, and the film abounds in images of wounds and penetration, comporting with the central idea that to be creative, to be notable, is to be beatified—a receptacle for the otherworldly. As for if it all hangs together, that’s up to the beholder. A goth-pop memory play, a psychological ghost story, an almost two-hander about the terrors of creative expression—the film is many things, but, above all, it’s an invitation for the pop-loving faithful to commune with something dark and divine. So, open up, and let Mother Mary in.

Awards Radar – Joey Magidson – 3 / 4

Mother Mary will confound some, which can come with the Lowery territory, but as long as you allow yourself to drift on to his wavelength, the rewards are certainly there. I was left a bit cold early on by what was unfolding, but especially as the third act began, it all really clicked in for me. Lowery blew me away with A Ghost Story, and while this isn’t on that level (that’s his masterpiece, so far), there are echoes here that I really appreciated.

The Wrap – William Bibbiani – 75 / 100

“Mother Mary” takes place in a world where art is magic and forms eternal bonds, which can be a blessing or a curse. It can also raise the dead and infect the soul. And in David Lowery’s film it can captivate the mind even when it’s arguably absurd. We’re watching extremely talented artists try to accomplish something grand and potentially embarrass themselves in the process, and it works because they’re committed to taking that risk. Lowery doesn’t hold back (mostly). His cast doesn’t hold back. That’s how cult classics are born. And let’s face it, cult classics tend to live longer than the bona fide variety, whether they’re brilliant, mortifying, or just plain odd.

Variety – Owen Glieberman

In “Mother Mary,” the director gives in to that side of himself completely. This is the David Lowery-est David Lowery movie ever made. Which is to say that by the end of it, you may be scratching your head to the point of wanting your money back.

Screen Rant – Molly Freeman – 6 / 10

Ultimately, Mother Mary isn't going to be a broad crowd-pleaser – even with its main character taking inspiration from the likes of Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift – but that's okay. With magnificent performances from Hathaway and Coel, stunning and evocative visuals, and a reliance on sensational vibes, Mother Mary is sure to find its fans.

Weekend Warrior – Edward Douglas – 5.5/10

Mother Mary is a visually-gorgeous film involving characters who I had a hard time caring about, set in a world of fashion and pop music that I had next to zero interest in. It’s very much a movie made solely for the Coachella crowd, so maybe it will find that audience, but otherwise, there really isn’t much there to recommend.

Slash Film – Bill Bria – 5 / 10

"Mother Mary" is unequivocally a gorgeously shot and designed film, so perhaps all of its suggestiveness and symbolism will allow you to open yourself up to it. Sadly, I never felt like I was given the key, so I didn't connect, I could not understand, and I was not entertained. The film is so steeped in ambiguity that it never feels like it reaches confession, nevermind clarity, and yet Lowery and his regular composer Daniel Hart soak the finale in heaps of schmaltz that feels unearned as a result