Part of why people love movies is the possibility of a twist hitting them at any point, especially when a film tries to sell you on vagueness. In A24’s “Mother Mary”, a pop star is at the height of her career, touring the world and setting new heights in her artistry. Everything changes when she begins to be haunted by something that causes her to spiral.
This is a premise that anyone can get behind. To many, the fact that the story revolves around a pop star is enough to get them invested. So, it came as a surprise how unimpressive this film was.
This film follows Mother Mary, played by Anne Hathaway, as she struggles to find a dress for her next performance. In the heat of the moment, she barges into her ex-best friend Sam’s, played by Michaela Cole, house to convince her to make one last dress for her.
The performances in this film are phenomenal. With actresses like Hathaway and Cole, who are established Academy Award winners, the acting is the element that definitely carries the film throughout its runtime.
The film boasts actresses like Hunter Schafer and FKA Twigs to appeal to a younger audience. FKA Twigs was a particularly interesting casting choice since she herself is a pop star.
However, one glaring issue with the film is how poetic its dialogue tries to be. Some scenes were very long-winded and way too drawn out. Every piece of dialogue that comes out of Sam’s mouth is heavy on metaphors and comes off pretentious.
One scene that particularly stands out is when Mother Mary is getting measured for the dress. The scene lasted about 30 minutes while a conversation was happening. No scene change, no flashback, just straight up metaphors that we, as the viewers, are meant to decipher.
Once it finally gets to parts where Mother Mary is in character, as a pop star, the film begins to deliver some stunning visuals. The outfits that are displayed here are masterful and really make Mother Mary look like a goddess.
There are many transitions using doors where we’re sent straight to the stage from Sam’s closet. We also see some changes in color when the ghost presents itself.
The soundtrack in this film has everything it needs to be effective — writing credits from Charli XCX and FKA Twigs, productions from Jack Antonoff. The soundtrack itself is amazing on streaming services. But regrettably, it is forgettable in the film.
Scenes where Mother Mary is performing are glossed over to try to tell you something visually. Having actresses like Hathaway feels like wasted potential here. It starts to feel worse when FKA Twigs has acting credits here — it’s a fair assumption to think that having a pop star in your cast would at least help you characterize one in your film, but this film sadly does not do that.
If this film isn’t about a pop star, nor about a ghost, then what exactly is it? That is up for you to interpret, and that’s saying it in the least pretentious way possible.
This movie has too many story lines, trying to capture as many people as possible. Director David Lowery tries to be artistic in many ways in this film, but while the film is visually stunning at times, it’s equally as boring.
This film is a gold mine for movie lovers who love to dissect every piece of a movie, and that is exactly the crowd that should go watch this. With that being said, people looking for an easy watch to just enjoy themselves on a weekend at the theater might want to consider something else.
Lowery had no interest in diving into the pop landscape and instead gave us a dreadful runtime where two people casually argue for way too long.
