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SummaryLong-buried wounds rise to the surface when iconic pop star Mother Mary (Anne Hathaway) reunites with her estranged best friend and former costume designer Sam Anselm (Michaela Coel) on the eve of her comeback performance.
Directed By:David Lowery
Written By:David Lowery
Mother Mary
Metascore
Mixed or Average
58
User score
Mixed or Average
4.5
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
58
57% Positive
21 Reviews
21 Reviews
35% Mixed
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
8% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Apr 24, 2026
91
Is this about forgiveness as a pathway to love? Lowery doesn’t sew it up for us in a neat package or give us the answers, but I have no doubt that anyone who resonates with the film will come away with thoughts of their own.
Apr 24, 2026
80
Mother Mary is an art film at its core, and will not suit everyone’s palette, but for the audience it connects with, there’s a beautiful journey from sorrow to confession and possible absolution.
User score
Mixed or Average
4.5
39% Positive
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
19% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
42% Negative
13 Ratings
13 Ratings
Apr 23, 2026
9
Not every film needs to be understood immediately. Some are meant to be felt. Mother Mary doesn’t follow conventional storytelling—it drifts, lingers, and pulls you into its world on its own terms. It’s not trying to entertain you in the usual way, and that’s exactly where it stands out. What works is the mood. The film builds an atmosphere that feels almost hypnotic—quiet, intense, and emotionally loaded. The performances carry a certain rawness, making even the still moments feel alive. It won’t work for everyone. The pacing is slow, and the narrative isn’t always straightforward. But if you’re willing to sit with it, there’s something genuinely powerful underneath. Final Verdict: Not made for easy viewing. Made for those who appreciate cinema that dares to be different. Cinema wins. Mediocrity loses.
Apr 27, 2026
8
Probably the best Lowery film I've seen. It reminded me a bit of Peter Strickland's In Fabric. Mother Mary is an audiovisual feast full of dream logic. I enjoyed it quite a bit
Apr 14, 2026
80
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.
Apr 14, 2026
75
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.
Apr 24, 2026
50
The words these characters say to each other are mostly boring and obscure, and it’s a mad scramble to figure out what’s making them so agitated. Keeping up with the film becomes as hard as it is to care.
Apr 16, 2026
40
The downer here is that Lowery doesn’t seem to know what to do with his stars, performers who are never better than when they’re just doing what they do best — you know, acting.
Apr 14, 2026
30
Some might be willing to find depth in his stylish, stylized but gossamer-thin depiction of a woman at the height of her performative powers struggling to bear the weight of her stage persona. I found it a bore — self-consciously cool but distancing and empty.
Apr 28, 2026
2
David Lowrey’s last film was “The Green Knight,” which I gave 1.5 stars and called it “a tedious, pretentious slog” (my review). I can only go for 1 star this film. Anne Hathaway plays a superstar pop singer who travels to the home of her former best friend and costume designer (Michaela Coel) for a new dress. Thus begins a painfully tiresome interaction between the duo. In quiet tones with a languid pace, they interact with an endlessly low-key lack of energy. The usually dark cinematography doesn’t help. There are a few concert flashbacks that add nothing to the narrative and only break up the painful pace. This is an affected and deadly drama.
Production Company:
- A24
- Topic Studios
- Access Entertainment
- Sailor Bear
- Augenschein Filmproduktion
- Homebird Productions
- IPR.VC
Release Date:Apr 17, 2026
Duration:1 h 52 m
Rating:R
Tagline:This is not a love story.
