Mother Mary looks like a glossy pop comeback story, then slowly locks you inside a feverish chamber piece about fame, art and old wounds. Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel face off in David Lowery’s strange, stylish A24 drama, with costumes by Iris van Herpen and original music from Charli XCX, Jack Antonoff and FKA Twigs.
Film details
- Title: Mother Mary
- Premiere date in the Netherlands: 14 May 2026
- Director: David Lowery
- Runtime: 112 minutes
- Genre: Drama, thriller, music
- Countries: United States, Germany
- Language: English
- Subtitles: Dutch
- Age rating: 16+
- Cast: Anne Hathaway, Michaela Coel, Hunter Schafer, FKA Twigs, Sian Clifford and Atheena Frizzell
- Where to watch in Rotterdam: KINO, Cinerama, LantarenVenster
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What’s the vibe?
Pop icon Mother Mary is preparing a comeback when she returns to Sam Anselm, the former costume designer who helped shape her image. They have one day to create a new dress, but the real work is far messier: years of resentment, admiration, dependence and unfinished emotional business need to be dragged into the light.
David Lowery does not make this a neat showbiz drama. This is more of a haunted pop opera, set largely inside rooms where conversations feel like rituals and creativity starts to look like possession. Anne Hathaway plays Mother Mary as a superstar balancing divine self-belief and total collapse, while Michaela Coel gives Sam a sharp, wounded calm that keeps cutting through the glamour.
The film also has a major fashion hook. Dutch designer Iris van Herpen created the costumes, which gives the story a sculptural, almost mythic quality. Add original songs by Charli XCX, Jack Antonoff and FKA Twigs, and you get a film that feels designed to be watched with your eyes slightly wider than usual.
Trailer
Check out the trailer below.
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Why you might like it
- Eyes: Iris van Herpen’s costumes, A24 moodiness and pop-star imagery that sits somewhere between music video, fashion film and gothic confession.
- Heart: The central relationship between Mother Mary and Sam gives the film its ache, especially when admiration turns into accusation.
- Mind: It plays with fame, identity and authorship: who creates an icon, and what happens when the icon starts consuming everyone around her?
Critical reception
Mother Mary has received a broadly positive but divided response, which feels about right for a David Lowery film about pop stardom, artistic obsession and emotional exorcism.
Rotten Tomatoes currently carries a positive critical consensus, noting Anne Hathaway’s convincing performance as a pop star and describing the film as stylish but sometimes frustratingly opaque. Gold Derby reported the film at 77% on Rotten Tomatoes and 61 on Metacritic, placing it in that interesting zone where many critics admire its ambition, even when they do not all agree that it fully lands.
Several critics have praised the film’s atmosphere, performances, music and visual design. Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel are the clear focal points, with reviewers often singling out their intense two-hander dynamic. The more cautious reviews tend to point to the same issue: Mother Mary is bold and beautiful, but also deliberately strange, symbolic and emotionally slippery. In other words, not exactly a casual “switch your brain off” cinema trip. Good. We have sofas for that.
At the time of writing, no major awards have been announced for the film, though its costume design, music and lead performances are obvious conversation points.
Scene to watch for
Watch for Hathaway’s silent dance sequence. Even without music, it turns performance into something eerie and exposed. It is the kind of scene that tells you exactly what sort of film you are watching: not a standard celebrity drama, but a story about what happens when image, body and myth all start fighting for control.
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Recommended pairing
Go slightly dramatic with this one. Wear something with texture, shine or intent, even if that simply means your most serious jacket and a look that says “I have unresolved artistic tension.”
Before the film, keep it light: a simple meal, a coffee or a quiet drink. Afterwards, do something slow and atmospheric, like a walk through the city centre or along the water. This is a film to let settle, preferably while pretending the wind machine is there for you.
Need-to-knows
Mother Mary is written and directed by David Lowery, whose earlier work includes A Ghost Story and The Green Knight. That gives you a useful warning label: expect mood, symbolism and strangeness, not a straight biopic.
The film is an A24 release and was shot partly in Germany. Anne Hathaway performs as the fictional pop star Mother Mary, with original music created by Charli XCX, Jack Antonoff and FKA Twigs. The costumes are by Dutch designer Iris van Herpen, which gives Rotterdam audiences an extra little local connection to the film’s visual identity.
