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.
Pam says:
What a mess. Anne Hathaway stars as Mother Mary, a music icon attempting a comeback, though oddly, her crisis centers on finding the perfect dress. I mean, I get it. I order 7 dresses for a wedding and return all but 1. But I digress… Mary tracks down her former dressmaker Sam, played by Michaela Coel, who clearly has no interest in a reunion. Their history isn’t just strained, it’s volatile, unresolved, and deeply personal.
As the two reconnect, the film unfolds through stylized flashbacks that play like an intimate stage production of their shared past. Each memory is followed by confrontation, peeling back layers of resentment, intimacy, and emotional dependency. Their relationship, we learn, extends far beyond professional boundaries, eventually building toward a shared spiritual experience meant to deliver the film’s emotional crescendo.
And yet, despite all that rich thematic potential such as love, loss, regret, reconciliation, the film loses its footing. Writer-director David Lowery seems far more interested in crafting a visual and tonal experiment than telling a cohesive story. Lighting, color, and production design dominate; scenes blur the line between reality and performance to the point where the audience is left doing the heavy lifting just to stay oriented.
To be fair, there are moments of striking beauty. Some imagery captures heartbreak with real poetic force. But the emotional resonance is constantly undercut by stylistic excess and most frustratingly, by the decision to deliver nearly every line in a whisper: whisper-talk, whisper-shout, and whisper-whine. It’s an affectation that quickly becomes grating, draining scenes of urgency and authenticity.
Hathaway commits fully; bold, vulnerable, and unafraid of the film’s risks. And Coel remains utterly magnetic and mesmerizing. But strong performances can’t compensate for a film that prioritizes aesthetic experimentation over narrative coherence. Mother Mary had the ingredients for a powerful story of fractured love and healing. Instead, it gets lost in its own artistry and not even a prayer can save it.
2 stars
