Mother Mary (Anne Hathaway) is a mega pop star experiencing an existential crises who flees and goes to her former best friend, the fashion designer Sam (Michaela Coel). Her request is as simple as it is sobering: Mother Mary needs a new dress and Sam, who once helped established her cult status—is tasked with helping her redefine herself. She needs this dress quickly, because the transformative stage outfit is needed in a few days for a festival performance. The problem: ten years ago, Mother Mary pushed aside her closest confidante, Sam—the woman who literally created her iconic halo—to pursue new creative paths. Why should Sam help Mother Mary now?

It’s been a long time since a hate-love relationship between women has been put on screen so powerfully. And unlike competition narratives like BLACK SWAN, there are no men to be found here: no lust objects that two women would like to allure. Instead, the symbiotic relationship between two friends is at the center, two driven artists. Sam wanted to and still wants to collaborate, Mother Mary wants to do her own thing. And director David Lowery seems to be negotiating how he wants to bring that to life: MOTHER MARY was envisioned while he was working on the Disney adaptation of PETER PAN and the fantasy drama THE GREEN KNIGHT. The genre mix of MOTHER MARY is hard to beat: from psychological thriller to music, fashion, and musical film while incorporating goth and body horror elements – it almost has it all.

The chamber piece between Anne Hathaway (THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA)—whose capacity for suffering is unsurpassed—and her verbally formidable antagonist Michaela Coel (I May Destroy You) initially calls to mind couples therapy: I had to change, Mother Mary laments. You didn’t give me any other choice but to end things with you, Sam counters. But the deeper both of them delve into the dark, artistic facets and imagery of their work, the more it becomes precisely about the very essence of their relationship. What kind of monster did the friends create with the art figure Mother Mary and what kind of spirit is haunting them since they’ve been apart? In other words: what drives artists to transgress borders – their own and the people in their direct environment?

The scale of the collaboration is what leaves the biggest impression here: the haute couture icon Iris van Herpen is behind the final dress that Sam designs for Mother Mary. Anne Hathaway sings the whole album herself; the pop icon Charli xcx, Jack Antonoff, and FKA Twigs lend their support. FKA Twigs gives an unforgettable performance as a mystic, who with the help of Mother Mary, tries to locate the spirit that is following Sam and herself.

In the age of AI, this feels unusually analog—and, particularly in its special effects, occasionally calls to mind early 2000s mystery fare à la the TV show Charmed. Ultimately, however, it is also about a highly zeitgeisty pop circus—specifically, who plays the horse in the ring and who acts as its trainer, and to what media effect. Following the mockumentary THE MOMENT (featuring Charli XCX), A24 notches another mark in its pursuit of social-media-friendly mass phenomena.

While conceptually compelling, the literal "red thread"—the motif of the flaming, ghostly fabric connecting Mother Mary and Sam—repeatedly gets lost in favor of the visuals. The story of the separation, processing, and resurgence of the artistic relationship is not following up on in places. However, there are recurring moments of laughter that serve to underscore that—quite deliberately—red lines of pathos and exaggerated symbolism are being crossed. When Anne Hathaway, with her constantly tearing doe eyes, asks what powerhouse Michaela Coel actually means with all of her metaphors – it can be seen as self-mockery.

Generally, viewers are encouraged not to take everything so seriously but yet take it literally: the blood red, creatively fueled friendship bond as well as the Catholic-iconic staging of Mother Mary – and both seem to express a certain yearning. Is it a search for transcendent connections—connections that do not dissolve into the ephemeral? For a craftsmanship in music and fashion that defies all technological progress? Or is it simply a yearning for something superhuman, unfathomable, metaphysical? There are many options.

Anna Hantelmann (INDIEKINO MAGAZIN)

Translation: Elinor Lewy