Film Review: MOTHER MARY (2026): A Tale of Passion and Obsession Expertly Told with a Knockout Performance by Anne Hathaway
Mother Mary Review
Mother Mary (2026) Film Review, a movie written and directed by David Lowery and starring Anne Hathaway, Michaela Coel, Hunter Schafer, Sian Clifford, FKA twigs, Jessica Brown Findlay, Kaia Gerber, Alba Baptista, Isaura Barbé-Brown, Taylor Sieve and Dani Vitale.
Anne Hathaway brings a pop star with an edge to life in David Lowery’s brilliantly conceived music-saturated dramatic thriller, Mother Mary. Lowery’s intense picture is a portrait of desire, hoped for salvation and inspiration and it ranks among some of the best films of 2026 thus far. It’s rare to see something as imaginative as Mother Mary and Oscar-winner Hathaway sinks her teeth into a performance full of complexity and ultimately triumphs in a role that tests her range and challenges her with a character who is, above all else, multi-faceted. Lowery utilizes great music from different artists such as Charli XCX and the result is a film that lights up the screen like the fourth of July with tension and unrequited passion.
Mother Mary is Hathaway’s character to own in this film. A sensation along the lines of Taylor Swift (only with a greater sense of purpose), Mother Mary is one of the great film characters of all-time. Mother Mary’s friend, Sam Anselm (Michaela Coel), is a talented costume creator who is stalked by the famed Mother Mary who seems a bit less popular in certain elements of the picture as she does in others. This is not the type of movie to talk in great details about. Its visuals are among the most creative I’ve ever seen in a motion picture and Hathaway truly becomes her character and the variation on the said character in a way that makes the actress immersed in the challenging material that Lowery has crafted.
Michaela Coel is the strait-laced former friend of the character, “Mother Mary,” who has a lot of hidden desires of her own which don’t reveal themselves in a clear and proper way at the film’s outset. Sam has compassion and reacts with Mary’s antics in a way that makes both characters feel equally important to the film’s structure. Since Hathaway has the showier role, it’s impressive that Coel can manage to hold a candle to her in a part that would have and could have been a throw away in a lesser movie.
Coel and Hathaway share many great scenes together in moments which test their characters’ loyalty to one another and then some. Individually, Hathaway rocks and gives Mary the requisite over-the-edge push that the film needs to effectively construct its awkward at times tale of lost fame and true talent, both real and imagined.
Mother Mary is the quintessential musical icon, and Hathaway doesn’t disappoint in making her larger than life. Hathaway would do Taylor Swift and similar legends like Cher proud with her assertive performance which is enhanced by fabulous costumes and lighting that intensifies every scene it’s meant to in an effective manner.
Mother Mary could seem washed up in the way she first presents herself to Sam. Mother Mary is desperate to reclaim her throne of victory in the musical world and desires a comeback tour. Coel plays a role similar to the one she plays in The Christophers. In both films, Coel portrays a woman who has been unfairly ignored or neglected in the past by people who could have helped her thrive. Mother Mary could be the musical counterpart to The Christophers which is set in the creative art world.
If Sam helped Mary become the woman that she once was, the tables may turn on Mary as the truth lingers on and reality sets in and eats the character Hathaway plays up alive. That’s not to say Mary will go down without a fight or that she’ll even go down at all. This film’s plot reveals should remain secretive at this point in the film’s release stage.
Hathaway and Coel are two masters of the craft of acting. Their delicate scenes move forward with intense precision and unparalleled, unspoken frustrations. FKA twigs can have a large part in the action as well as a vivid character, Imogen, who makes the movie come alive when it’s not focused on our two lead actresses and their trials and tribulations, both professionally and personally speaking. FKA twigs is an artist to be taken seriously if the work presented in this film paints an accurate portrait of the star’s talents.
There are a number of fine supporting turns here. Hunter Schafer and Jessica Brown Findlay revel in their excesses in such a way that they, too, become unforgettable to watch even if they have far less screen time than one may wish they had. One may also not be able to get up until every last credit has rolled due to the film’s thought-provoking and hugely entertaining story line that gives Hathaway the type of role that any actress would kill for. If the soundtrack is peppered with great music, that’s all the better.
Mother Mary is a pulsating, vibrant musical nightmare come to life. Hathaway’s movements on-screen are the stuff legendary performances are made out of. She glides across the stage with vigor and is costumed like the true cinematic Queen that Hathaway is. There’s likely to be talk of this film living on in the world of independent cinema as a picture destined to be a classic. This movie delves into difficult subject matter fearlessly. It has ideas which are fully developed and integrated into the simpler to watch aspects of the movie such as the phenomenally rendered concert sequences.
Anne Hathaway is in definite Black Swan territory with her deceptively sophisticated work in this film. She rivals Natalie Portman’s layered turn in that 2010 classic picture. Both films take no prisoners and are unapologetically specific works of art about creative professions that can cause one to, quite literally, forget who they really are in more ways than one. It’s not fair to know too much about Mother Mary going in, but when you come out of it, you may be kicking and screaming in opposition to not being able to immediately watch it again. Isn’t that the stuff legendary films are made of?
Rating: 9.5/10
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