When I Find Myself in Times of Trouble, Mother Mary Confounds Me

When I Find Myself in Times of Trouble, Mother Mary Confounds Me

“This is not a ghost story,” reads one of the posters for Mother Mary, the equal-parts thrilling and frustrating new feature from A Ghost Story writer-director David Lowery. And indeed, I don’t think anything actually supernatural occurs in this psychodrama of reconciliation between a scandal-damaged pop star and her spurned dressmaker. Like Black Swan and The Neon Demon before it, this is a gorgeous, narratively opaque mystery about a woman who…

'Mother Mary' review: Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel are rapturous

Filmmakers often express frustrations about the genre labels put on their work by studio marketing, the media, and even their fans. Perhaps this is why David Lowery's tagline for his latest film, Mother Mary, focuses on what it's not. "This is not a ghost story. This is not a love story." Maybe he doesn't want his rapturous work described in such simple terms. But here's the thing. It is a ghost story. It is a love story. It's also more. Written…

<em>Mother Mary</em>: Red Fabric

David Lowery has never lacked ambition, and so the North Texas product aims for a great many things with Mother Mary. His latest film means to be a study of a friendship suffocated by one person’s global fame, a body-horror exercise like The Substance, a commentary on pop-music megastardom, a metaphysical meditation on the afterlife, a story about a fashion designer making a dress under a tight deadline, and an evocation of what Taylor Swift’s E…

Review: MOTHER MARY is a Haunting, Performance-Driven Character Study That Gets Lost in Its Own Symbolism

When I walked into Mother Mary I didn’t really know what to expect, and honestly, I kind of love when that happens. Directed by David Lowery, this film looked mysterious and a little off-kilter in the trailers, and that vibe is exactly what the movie delivers. What I got was something way more intimate and theatrical than I anticipated. This isn’t some big sweeping drama. It’s a locked-in, conversation-heavy character study that feels almost lik…

Mother Mary Review: David Lowery Strikes a Gorgeously Haunting Chord

PLOT: 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. REVIEW: If you caught the trailer for Mother Mary and walked into the theater expecting a high-octane pop star thriller or a glossy musical extravaganza, you might want to double-check the director’s name, not to mention the studio releasing it. This…

'Mother Mary' explores our relationship to pop stardom in ghostly, dramatic fashion

It’s a dark and stormy night (isn’t it always?) when Mother Mary appears at Sam’s door.  The titular pop star of David Lowery’s new psychological thriller (played by Anne Hathaway) doesn’t look so much like a pop star at this moment. She steps into Sam’s (Michaela Coel) house, which is a flurry of action as the fashion designer gets ready for her upcoming show. Mary is dripping wet, devoid of makeup, her dark roots showing through her blonde dye…