Review Roundup: Anne Hathaway is MOTHER MARY in New Pop Opera

Mother Mary, the new psychological two-hander starring Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel, will be released in select U.S. theaters on April 17. The A24 film has already screened for critics and reviews for the music-driven film are coming in. Find out what they are saying in our roundup below.

Described as a "psychosexual pop opera," Mother Mary follows the titular pop star (Hathaway) as long-buried wounds rise to the surface when she reunites with her estranged Best Friend and former Costume Designer, Sam Anselm (Coel), on the eve of her comeback performance. 

Mother Mary sees Hathaway performing new songs written for the movie, including the already-released "My Mouth Is Lonely For You" and "Burial." A companion album, Mother Mary: Greatest Hits, features the original songs written and produced by 13-time GRAMMY winner Jack Antonoff and the artist Charli XCX. It will arrive on April 17 and is available to pre-save here.

Written and directed by David Lowery, Mother Mary also stars Hunter Schafer, Atheena Frizzell, Kaia Gerber, Jessica Brown Findlay, Isaura Barbé-Brown, Alba Baptista, Sian Clifford, and FKA Twigs. The movie will be released in select theaters on April 17th and nationwide on April 24th.

Pete Hammond, Deadline: "Although there is a larger cast involved, all women, this movie does feel like a two-hander after all, so powerful is the dynamic between Hathaway and Coel. However, FKA Twigs, also a key contributor musically, has some visceral moments acting-wise as Imogen, and Hunter Schafer (Euphoria) gets in some licks as Mother Mary’s assistant, particularly in the later going."

David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter: "Lowery is digging into the mystique of pop superstardom and the creative alchemy that makes it happen, the intimacy of inspiration and the enormity of communion with a massive audience. 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."

Owen Gleiberman, Variety: "It might have been about how they broke up (because the pop star became too big and thought she could do it on her own), and about how that breakup was a betrayal (because it was based on the pop star’s narcissism). Instead, “Mother Mary” turns into the most befuddlingly pretentious movie about a pop star since Brady Corbet’s “Vox Lux.” It heads down a blind alley of cosmic meaning that, in the end, means nothing."

Manohla Dargis, The New York Times: "As “Mother Mary” continues, Lowery routinely peers outside the atelier, padding the story with flashbacks and some supernatural elements. These are all certainly as watchable and, in moments, as visually striking as the rest of the movie, yet the more that Lowery tries to gin up the story, the smaller and less engaging it becomes."

Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com: "Still, one can’t deny the big swings that A24 and David Lowery are taking with this film. The previews make it look like another riff on “BLACK SWAN,” a story of obsession and the cost of being a celebrity. It is about both of those things, but in a way that we haven’t really seen before."

Owen Myers, The Guardian: "Adding to the frustration is the fact that Mother Mary safely side-steps a good deal of the chewier issues that are staring it in the face. For a film billed as a “psychosexual pop thriller”, it has a strange coyness about its central queer relationship that reads as downright prudish in our age of sapphic pop."

David Fear, Rolling Stone: "But for those who believe that movies can get into your head and under your skin in ways that sometimes defy description, and tap into the same transcendent state that great pop music does — that sensation of temporarily floating into some other dizzying realm — this is for you. It isn’t the movie you think you’re walking into. Amen for that."

David Ehrlich, IndieWire: "At once both Lowery’s sparkliest and most inscrutable film “Mother Mary” doesn’t just represent his overt attempt to reconcile and confuse those two modes, it also offers a thrilling opportunity to plunge us into the liminal space that separates them from each other. To crystallize the volatile — even violent — energy that binds artistic connections across space and time."

William Bibbiani, TheWrap: "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. Lowery doesn’t hold back (mostly). His cast doesn’t hold back. That’s how cult classics are born. And let’s face it, cult classics tend to live longer than the bona fide variety, whether they’re brilliant, mortifying, or just plain odd."

Bill Bria, SlashFilm: ""Mother Mary" is unequivocally a gorgeously shot and designed film, so perhaps all of its suggestiveness and symbolism will allow you to open yourself up to it. Sadly, I never felt like I was given the key, so I didn't connect, I could not understand, and I was not entertained." 

Photo Credit: Eric Zachanowich, Courtesy of A24