Mother Mary Review: Anne Hathaway's Ghost Story Is Pure Vibes in the Best Way

Key Takeaways

• Anne Hathaway plays a pop star reconnecting with her former fashion designer, played by Michaela Coel
• Director David Lowery brings his signature supernatural storytelling style from A Ghost Story and The Green Knight
• The film features stunning cinematography from Andrew Droz Palermo and Rina Yang, who's worked with Taylor Swift
• Limited theatrical release starts April 17, with a wide release following on April 24
• The movie uses interpretive dance sequences to convey psychological deterioration

Let me just say this upfront: when a movie gets described as "all vibes," that's usually code for "pretty but empty." Mother Mary is absolutely drenched in vibes. The difference? These vibes actually work.

David Lowery has built a career on making films that feel like waking dreams. A Ghost Story had Casey Affleck wandering around under a bedsheet and somehow made it devastating. The Green Knight turned Arthurian legend into something that felt genuinely ancient and strange. So when he decided to make a movie about a pop star and her fashion designer holed up in an English countryside workshop, you knew it wasn't going to be straightforward.

The Setup Is Deceptively Simple

Anne Hathaway plays the titular Mother Mary, a pop star who's clearly seen better days. Michaela Coel is Sam Anselm, the fashion designer who styled Mary back when her career was on the rise. Something went wrong between them. We don't know what, at least not right away.

Now Mary shows up at Sam's workshop out of nowhere, desperate for something she can't quite articulate. The two women spend most of the film's runtime in this single location, and the drama unfolds slowly. Really slowly. And then it becomes a ghost story.

“There's a cinematic language to pop stardom in this post-Eras Tour era, and the parts of this film that become sequences of interpretive dance speak it fluently.”

— IGN Review

That quote captures something important about what Lowery's doing here. We're living in an era where pop concerts have become these massive, theatrical events. Taylor Swift's Eras Tour changed how we think about what a pop star even is. Mother Mary feels like it exists in direct conversation with that moment.

The Visual Language Is Stunning

Here's where things get interesting from a filmmaking perspective. Lowery brought in his longtime cinematographer Andrew Droz Palermo, but he also added Rina Yang to share the DP credit. Yang has shot music videos for Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa, Sam Smith, and Haim. She understands how pop stars are supposed to look on screen.

The result is a film that looks absolutely incredible. Certain sequences play out as interpretive dance, showing Mary's psychological state deteriorating over time. It's the kind of choice that could feel pretentious in lesser hands. Here it feels earned.

Sound Design That Gets Under Your Skin

There's this low rumbling hum that plays throughout scenes in the workshop. It's not a jump scare. It's not even obviously ominous at first. But it's there, this constant presence that you start waiting to hear stop.

And it doesn't stop. That's the thing. The review notes that at some point you realize it's just never going away. That kind of sound design choice tells you everything about what Lowery's going for here. He wants you uncomfortable in a way you can't quite explain.

This Isn't Mainstream Horror

Look, I need to be honest with you. If you're expecting The Conjuring or even something like Hereditary, Mother Mary isn't that. This is atmospheric horror, the kind that creeps up on you rather than jumping out. Some people find that boring. Others find it way more effective than any jumpscare.

Lowery has always worked this way. A Ghost Story was about grief and time and existence, told through the image of a ghost that was literally just a guy in a sheet. It shouldn't have worked. It absolutely worked. Mother Mary seems to be operating in similar territory, using its supernatural elements to explore something deeper about fame, creative relationships, and what happens when those fall apart.

The Hathaway-Coel Pairing

On paper, Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel is an inspired combination. Hathaway has been doing fascinating work lately, leaning into stranger, more challenging roles. Coel, of course, created and starred in I May Destroy You, one of the best shows of the past decade. Putting them together in a two-hander like this just makes sense.

The film lives or dies on their chemistry and their ability to carry what sounds like a lot of quietly intense scenes. Based on the review, it sounds like they pull it off. The drama unfolds between these two women over the course of the runtime, with the supernatural elements gradually creeping in around the edges.

Release Information

• Limited theatrical release: April 17, 2026
• Wide theatrical release: April 24, 2026
• No streaming date announced yet

If you're interested in catching this one, you've got options. The limited release on April 17 will probably hit major cities first. Then the wide release a week later should bring it to most theaters.

Is This Worth Your Time?

Here's my take. If you've liked David Lowery's previous work, this sounds right up your alley. If you've never heard of him but you're the kind of person who appreciated films like The Uninvited or In Fabric, slow-burn atmospheric stuff that prioritizes mood over plot, Mother Mary seems to be made for you.

But if you need constant action or clear narrative momentum, this probably isn't your movie. And that's fine. Not everything needs to be for everyone.

The comparison to The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover is fascinating too. That Peter Greenaway film is all about visual formalism and uncomfortable atmospheres. If Lowery is drawing from that well alongside his usual supernatural interests, Mother Mary could be something really special.

Sometimes a movie doesn't need to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes it just needs to nail a specific vibe so completely that you can't stop thinking about it. Based on everything we're hearing, Mother Mary seems like exactly that kind of film. A ghost story for the streaming era, filtered through the visual language of pop stardom and set against the backdrop of a creative relationship gone sour.

I'm genuinely excited to see this one. And honestly, in a spring movie season that can sometimes feel thin, a new David Lowery film is always worth paying attention to.

Source: IGN All