Mother Mary (2026)

Director Lowery is not one to make "normal" movies. This story of a friendship stitching itself back together after being shorn is told more through emotion and visuals than through a logical narrative. Lowery uses what Lynch would call Dream Logic to deconstruct the connection between his two protagonists. Setting this exploration in the world of pop performance allows him to make it into more of an expressionist experience than a traditional story. And casting Hathaway and Coel opposite each other creates an alchemy that makes Mother Mary something to see.  

It would be hard to say one can explain what they just watched after leaving Mother Mary. The film isn't designed to be read literally or understood rationally. It is to be felt and, if understood, through our feelings. It is visceral, often literally, as the characters bleed for us and each other. 

The film dares us to be wrong in our interpretations. "This is not a ghost story" the promotional materials tell us. There are times the films vagueness weakens its strength a bit. Lowery is so loath to let us in on the characters' stories we can almost interpret them too loosely. But the relationship between the co-stars is palpable enough to hook us anyway and Lowery's visuals (including THE dress) and the soundtrack that puts us into a euphoric trance like at the kind of event pop concert the film's lead character is said to perform. 

So even though it sometimes makes you wonder how much there is really there, it still has you ruminating over it, hearing the songs in your head, and never forgetting the way Coel and Hathaway stare at each other.

Mother Mary
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Michaela Coel, Hunter Schafer, FKA Twigs

Writer/Director: David Lowery