Mother Mary plus Short Takes on other cinematic topics

Intriguing But Weird as Hell

Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke

I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the CCAL (Collective Critics at Large) if they’re supportive or the OCCU (Often Cranky Critics Universe) when they go negative.  However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, but better options are on the horizon.  (Note: Anything in bold blue below [or near purple] is a link to something in the above title or the review.)

My reviews’ premise: “You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”

(from "Garden Party" by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the song’s name)

However, if you’d like to know more about rationale of my ratings visit this explanatory site.

     Mother Mary (David Lowery)   rated R    112 min. 

Here’s the trailer:

        (Use the full screen button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size; 

        activate the same button or use “esc” keyboard key to return to normal.)

If you can abide plot spoilers read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ (as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy).  To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows: 

⇒The first and last words will be noted with arrows and red.⇐ OK, now continue on if you prefer.

WHAT HAPPENS: (This has been yet another one of those weeks where other tasks—largely dental work [maybe my parents had a better idea with false teeth than I’d ever realized]—actively cut into my blogging time so if you want a lot more info about plot details please go here.)  Mother Mary (her stage name; I never caught her real one if it was even there to catch; anyway, she’s played by Anne Hathaway) is a famous pop singer in the vein of Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and Taylor Swift (Which leads to original songs by Jack Antonoff, Charli XCX, and FKA Twigs—none of whom I know much of anything about musically; surprised? However, you can find Hathaway singing these songs on the Mother Mary: Greatest Hits album), but her career’s been put on hold due to an accident suffered on stage.  As she’s ready for a huge comeback she’s nervous, decides what she needs for performance success is a new dress designed by her former collaborator/now successful artist in her own right, Sam Anselm (Michaela Coel), except they had a bad falling-out years ago when Sam felt she wasn’t getting proper recognition for Mary’s emerging success; since then she’s not even listened to Mary’s music but somehow agrees to come up with something by Sunday (even as it’s Thursday now).  Both women are aware of a ghost that appears as flowing red cloth, a spirit which seems to have possessed Mary.  ⇒She then agrees to a ritual with Sam as the 2 women attempt to exorcise the ghost, which finally happens when Mary uses Sam’s shears to cut open her own chest allowing the spirit to leave her body, collapsing into a pile of red cloth which Sam uses to make Mary’s dress for her triumphant show, with Sam in the joyful crowd, that very night.⇐

SO WHAT? If you just read my short summary above you might think there’s a fairly smooth transition from the first part of this film where Mary’s trying to reconnect with Sam—it’s difficult, as her former close ally still feels the hurt of how she was sidelined long ago as well as Sam now not needing hared triumph with Mary—to the weirdness of that floating-fabric ghost, but when you see how the evolving scenes transpire you probably wouldn’t face much criticism if you bowed out halfway to watch your local baseball team face another inevitable defeat (although over last weekend my Oakland West Sacramento Athletics managed to rise up briefly from the American League West Division cellar to take 2 of 3 from Division leader Houston Astros, went back to their ongoing losing ways against another crew next night but beat those Minnesota Twins on Tuesday and Wednesday, stunningly winning their last 2 series; life is like a box of baseballs, you never know what you’re gonna get!).  Actually, that’s the kind of bailout-while-you-can response I’ve found from various critics I often cite in this blog (most of whom are at the 40% Metacritic level): Owen Myers of U.K.’s The Guardian: “If only Lowery’s po-faced film had any of the knowingness that could elevate its hodgepodge of ideas into a cult classic. It’s ironic, given that it is a film about a dress”; Manohla Dargis of The New York Times: “The only interesting thing about ‘Mother Mary’ is how unwaveringly its talented, charismatic leads […] manage to hold your attention despite such hollow nonsense”; Robbie Collin of U.K.’s The Telegraph: “As you watch, you find yourself continually grabbing at meaning but, like a ghost, your fingers slip straight through”; plus Odie Henderson of The Boston Globe (drops down to MC 38%): “Eventually, the film ends with a whimper, not a bang. ‘These metaphors are exhausting,’ Mother Mary mutters at one point. Amen to that, sister.”  Now, I’m not saying to abandon this film (it would have fewer of my stars if so), but, despite a lot of decent acting, eye-catching set designs, and well-choreographed concert scenes I found it hard to stay invested in.

 BOTTOM LINE FINAL COMMENTS: Mother Mary opened in domestic (U.S.-Canada [pre-tariffs]) on April 17, 2026, made a mere $2.6 million at the box-office ($3 million globally), now is best found via streaming where you can rent it for $4.99 from Amazon Prime Video (or invest $8.99 for a month if you need to become a subscriber), $5.99 from Apple TV ($12.99 monthly to subscribe), or it seems to be free to HBO Max subscribers ($10.99 a month to become one [film sometimes pops up on HBO cable too]).  The CCAL’s only marginally supportive of your attention to this one as the Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews are just 69% and the Metacritic average score is down to 58%.  As an example of someone who really likes it we have David Ehrlich of IndieWire (MC 91) who says: “It’s all rather vague and uncertain, like the contours of a rotting old friendship; the movie’s surfaces are as simple as the lyrics of a pop song, and its depths as rich and boundless as the feelings that same pop song might summon. Lowery is drawn to that tension, if also comfortably uncertain with what he might find there (this feels like the most ‘one for me’ movie he’s ever made, and yet I struggle to imagine how someone wouldn’t be able to see themselves in it, or at the very least be enamored by its design).”  To counter that, though, I found a lot of folks I often turn to who’re dismissive of this film (as noted in the section just above), including Stephanie Zacharek of TIME (MC 40): “Lowery has made some very modest but effective movies (A Ghost Story, The Old Man and the Gun), and some heavily embroidered ones (like The Green Knight,, a late-14th century fairytale extravaganza). But Mother Mary, arty and self-conscious, is just a slog. It works hard to impress us with its slinky weirdness, which isn’t the same as simply being weird.”  OK.

  Mother Mary’s certainly an unusual blend of ingredients (some hard to digest), especially once it moves from interpersonal conflict into disturbing supernatural realms so the choice is yours as I exit with my usual conclusion of a Musical Metaphor, this time (What else could I choose?) The Beatles’ "Let It Be" (1970 album of the same name)—their 19^th #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (followed that year by their finale as an active group, #20 “The Long and Winding Road”), although in this movie, unlike the inspirational person in the song, Mother Mary’s one of the “broken-hearted people” until she and Sam reconnect: “I wake up to the sound of music / Mother Mary comes to me / Speaking words of wisdom / Let it be.”  Nevertheless, I’ll wager (not much, though) many potential viewers of this film will just “let it be” as well while moving on to something else unless you’re willing to trust Mr. Ehrlich. If not, do find a success in the Metaphor where Billy Preston and even George Martin join in.

        

SHORT TAKES

         

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