Before fans are reacquainted with her character from the beloved fashion-oriented comedy however, this film offers the chance to see Anne Hathaway in a more haunted light.
The film begins with the titular American popstar (Hathaway ) appearing suddenly on the British doorstep of Sam Anselm, a renowned fashion designer and someone with whom Mary once enjoyed a fruitful and fulfilling, collaborative relationship. Clearly dishevelled, and despite their estrangement, Mary pleads with Sam for a new dress intended for, what may be, her final concert performance.
David Lowery’s filmography demonstrates an eclectic range of interests.
The versatility of subject matter and style, as well as the fact that he is also screenwriter on his films, suggests a kind of creative stubbornness. He only makes what he wants to make. As a result, it may take longer than one might prefer, but the end result is usually satisfying.
His films include the ethereally moving, A Ghost Story (2017 ); a haunted house film like no other. The Old Man and the Gun (2018 ) is a crime caper serving as a fitting tribute to the late Robert Redford’s screen persona, and The Green Knight (2021 ) was a fascinating, enigmatic version of an old Arthurian story, that benefitted greatly from the natural beauty of Irish landscapes.
Mother Mary is also a kind of ghost story, but a gothic one, in the vein of Hitchcock’s Rebecca (1940 ), where tension stems from Mary and Sam’s mysterious past, and the desolation of the characters within Sam’s cavernous estate.
The film’s first half is especially compelling. Hathaway and Michaela Coel deliver Lowery’s cutting dialogue quite remarkably. There is something enchanting about the two actors’ faces that draws one deep into emotional wounds which lie beneath their words.
Much of this first half plays out as a psychological chamber piece, where both characters skirt around confronting their scars.
Eventually as they show more vulnerability, Mary and Sam’s traumas are elaborately visualised with impressively conceived sequences that showcase Lowery’s visionary eye. There is a striking sequence where the passage of time is expressed through a series of stairs being scaled up and down. As mentioned earlier, fashion also plays an integral role as the spiritual connection between these two women; a kind of apparition that unnerves both characters.
Had the story’s more supernatural elements been treated with a more subtle, ambiguous touch, it would have been more effective, symbolising the relationship between the spiritual and the emotional. Instead, a sizable chunk of the second half explores this spectral aspect in a frustratingly literal way. It recalls lesser horror films and reduces its intended impact.
The film becomes less compelling as it reduces the complexity of this fractured bond with a stereotypical, horror film approach.
Although the execution falters in the latter half, the slightly off-kilter edge to everything in the film works. The noticeably ‘constructed’ nature of the sets, and lack of natural light is effective because it evokes the same suffocating feeling that follows Mary and Sam. What we see is more a representation of the mind’s eye.
The ideas here are better than the communication of said ideas. That being said, David Lowery delivers another involving film with memorable visuals and an artistic ambition uncommon these days.
3/5 stars
In Galway cinemas now.
