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Amidst mixed reviews, controversy and a prominent array of cast members and collaborators, Mother Mary, A24’s latest psychological thriller, was released on April 24, 2026. The film is directed by David Lowery, whose other works include the supernatural drama A Ghost Story (2017) and the fantasy film The Green Knight (2021).
Mother Mary stars Anne Hathaway as an iconic pop star with a cult following who is preparing for a comeback performance and has recently reunited with her former costume designer, played by Michaela Coel. The reunion brings past conflicts and traumas to the surface.
While the film received mixed reviews before its official release, critics have praised the leading performances, with Hathaway playing a flashy and convincing pop star, and Coel in a subtly vengeful role. According to The New York Times Review, Mother Mary is aesthetically sharp, with a "luxurious gloss,” also diving into moments of body horror and surrealism. In a review from The Guardian, writer Owen Myers reports that references can be too on the nose, and criticized the lack of self-awareness and the dialogue, saying “it’s a relief when the camera turns away from Mary and Sam’s existential debates.”
The film was released alongside a 7-track album, sung by Hathaway. Titled “Mother Mary: Greatest Hits,” the album includes songwriting credits from electronic pop icons Charli xcx and FKA twigs, the latter of whom is present in the film as a medium. Lowery took inspiration from the past couple of decades of music, including Taylor Swift’s Reputation concert film, as well as Lorde and twigs. The song “My Mouth Is Lonely For You” was a reject from twigs’ recent album, “Eusexua.”
In the wake of the film’s release, there have been accusations of plagiarism, coming from the electropop duo MOTHERMARY. The band has claimed that there are similarities between the film's name and the sound of the music. Larena Winn of the band had this to say in an interview with Weirdo Music Forever:
“We [thought], “Wait, is this a joke?” It felt like I woke up in a nightmare. It’s not only called Mother Mary; it’s about an electropop artist Mother Mary who makes music that sounds similar and whose esthetics are gothy, dark, feminine, and embracing of the same iconic religious imagery but reshaped in a very specific [and] similar way to how we are. And for me, that’s where it gets odd, to say the least … They’re releasing a movie [and] that’s wild, but they’re releasing an album too, so they’re crossing over into our space. They’re calling the album Mother Mary: Greatest Hits.”
Whether the movie will hold up and stand out among other upcoming horror releases is yet to be determined. However, in the meantime, the album and movie are out now, for those interested in experiencing Mother Mary for themselves.
