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Mother Mary looked interesting to me, the visual style, and I like David Lowery. I know he can be divisive, but at least he makes something original; ‘mainstream’ is not a word you would use for his movies. He has made movies like The Old Man and the Gun, The Green Knight and A Ghost Story.
He’s also made movies like Pete’s Dragon and Peter Pan & Wendy. I said he’s not mainstream, but I just learned he did a couple of episodes of Skeleton Crew for Disney. I gave up on that show about halfway through.
Mother Mary stars Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel for the main part. There are other actors, well, actresses, but it’s about those two. The other name that pops up is FKA twigs. I didn’t know this going in, but bear with me.
The Story
I was pleased to go into Mother Mary knowing nothing about it, apart from the synopsis:
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.
The movie stars with a voice-over, which I won’t lie, is terribly pretentious, almost to the point I was going to turn it off or just fast-forward it.
We learn that Mother Mary (Hathaway) is a pop superstar. She is due back on stage after an ‘event’ from her past. Mary only wants one person to design her concert dress, her former designer, Sam (Coel).
They split ways long ago, but this is a chance for reconciliation. Sam says she will design a new dress, on the strict instructions that Mary does everything she tells her to. I thought the movie was going to be about Sam torturing Mary, but it’s not.
This is all just the first act, and the overall movie plays out as interesting.
The Cast
The biggest problem with movie stars these days is that you know everything about them. I liked Hathaway, but recently, she was moaning about not having ugly women on the set of Devil Wears Prada 2. This put me off her a little.
She is a good actress and has done some interesting roles in her career. I found that her Mother Mary, was one of her better roles. She strips everything away, not like that, but her character is very ‘basic’, in her looks at least, taking the focus off how she usually looks.
While Mary is on the stage, she is radiant and idolised, like the superstar she is. However, when visiting Sam, she’s in a natural state with her hair a mess, no make-up, and literally bearing her soul.
Coel is just as good. I’ve not seen her much, but her role as Sam is very well written and acted. She is the person who was hurt when Mary left her, and she’s carrying as many demons as Mary.
The two of them together create some really intense scenes, again, not like that.
Twig
The thought of FKA twigs is another story. I have seen her in two movies, The Crow and The Carpenter’s Son. The Crow was a terrible pile of doggy doo doo, it was cringe to watch. Her character in The Crow was as lifeless as Kristen Stewart in every movie she’s ever done.
The Carpenter’s Son was the same; it was a horror movie about Jesus that didn’t work on any level. Again, she was terrible in it.
However, in Mother Mary, she was, well, great. I honestly winced a little when she appeared, but I had to withdraw that opinion as the movie went on. I won’t spoil her character, but she’s pivotal to the story, and is only in it for about 15 minutes.
The other thing that shocked me about her was that she wrote the music. Mother Mary is about a pop star, so you must have good music in it. I’m not a big fan of music, but the songs in the movie are, again, great.
When the credits rolled, and it said that twig was the composer, I was impressed, very impressed.
Lowery
As I said, Lowery can be divisive. Personally, I like him. The Green Knight was a great movie, it was abstract, interesting and not ‘Hollywood’. Give me that any day of the week.
As I also said, I was surprised that he had directed a couple of episodes of Skeleton Crew. Comparing Mother Mary to Skeleton Crew is like comparing Star Wars and The Last Jedi; they are two different things.
Mother Mary is back to basics, with most just Hathaway and Coel in a studio, talking things out. This is not as boring as it sounds; the scripting, apart from some of the overly pretentious moments, is very engaging.
The story is deep and goes to a lot of different places. It’s mostly about guilt, redemption and friendship. His writing in this is good, really good. Mother Mary really got me thinking about old friendships, friends I haven’t seen in a while, and just how things happen in your life that mean you just drift apart from people.
Overall
I didn’t know what to expect from Mother Mary, and I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. The story is very layered, very deep and really got me thinking.
Some of the photography is stunning, jaw-dropping in places. Even though it’s mostly set in a dark and dingy studio, one of Sam’s early places, the shots really stand out, all while you’re following Mary and Sam trying to reconnect.
It also goes a little trippy in places; it reminded me of The Green Knight, not in story, but in style. If you thought The Green Knight was pretentious, you’re probably not going to like Mother Mary.
However, if you want something that is not mainstream or Hollywood, you will find this interesting. It is a very well-made movie, brilliant acting from the main cast, and it gives you something to think about.
I’m giving Mother Mary 4 out of 5 stars, which might go up with another viewing, which will happen.
Mother Mary is on VoD.
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