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Tom’s Guide

Technology

Malcolm McMillan

Anne Hathaway stuns in her latest movie — and no, I'm not talking about 'The Devil Wears Prada 2'

Anne Hathaway Michaela Coel Darren Aronofsky Mila Kunis Natalie Portman Tom Guide (Organization)

Tom's Guide Verdict: 'Mother Mary'

Rating: ★★★½ stars
Verdict: "Mother Mary" bills itself as a psychological thriller, but it's more accurately a romance drama. Our jilted lovers are Anne Hathaway as the titular pop star Mother Mary and Sam (Michaela Coel), a fashion designer whose past with Mary is clouded by emotion. They're incredible, as is the original soundtrack, but the actual thriller at the movie's core fails to satisfy.
Where to watch: See "Mother Mary" in theaters now

I almost wish I hadn't seen the trailer for "Mother Mary" before I watched it. This movie bills itself as "Not a ghost story," and the trailer gives psychological thriller vibes. As one Letterboxd user eloquently put it, this movie is "Black Swan for people who listen to bjork [sic]."

But I've seen "Black Swan," and I've seen "Mother Mary." And frankly, this movie is not nearly as thrilling as Darren Aronofsky's 2010 film, nor is it as satisfying to watch. There are a few thrilling moments ... mostly of bodily harm coming to one of the main characters. But for the most part, the tension of this film is in the dialogue of Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel, who, respectively, play the titular pop star Mother Mary and Sam, a fashion designer with deep ties to Mary's past.

Now, despite my assertions that this film is no "Black Swan," I'd argue Hathaway and Coel outperformed Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis. The movie rests entirely on their shoulders.

Plus, there's an entire secondary element to this movie: it's also a concert film. It's as if in "Black Swan," Aronofsky had created an entirely new play from scratch, which Portman and Kunis then had to perform in its entirety.

Still, if this is supposed to be a thriller, it doesn't quite hit the mark. If it had, I think Hathaway and Coel would have made me rate it much higher than I already do.

Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel are 'Mother Mary' from start to finish

When I say that this movie rests entirely on Hathaway and Coel's shoulders, I really mean it. Aside from a brief appearance by FKA Twigs, who portrays Imogen, a young woman who leads a seance gone wrong in the middle of the film, this movie is completely driven by either Hathaway, Coel, or Hathaway and Coel in dialogue with each other. Most of the movie is them literally in a room together. They enter an old barn at the beginning of the film and don't exit until the end. Everything else is told through flashbacks.

Hathaway and Coel shine in "Mother Mary" for different reasons, however. Hathaway's performance is a deeply physical one. There are live concert performances, complete with choreographed dances, weighty halos and levitating platforms. But there's also one scene where, in complete silence, Hathaway does the dance to her character's new song. It's just the sound of her feet moving and stomping for several minutes, aside from an occasional grunt.

Coel, meanwhile, is the cerebral one of this former pairing. Her dialogue is sometimes scathing, often cutting and frequently quick. Very quickly, you're aware she's the jilted party in this former relationship, even though it takes a while for anything to be explicitly said. But she makes it clear that she's not over their past and that she was hurt beyond what words can express.

Verdict: 'Mother Mary' is a better work of art than it is a thriller movie

Despite the praise, I just spent paragraphs heaping onto the performances of Hathaway and Coel, though. I still ultimately left the theater feeling unsatisfied. Hathaway was brilliant in her pop star performances ... so I wanted more. There is a (potentially) supernatural story at the core of this film, but it's so vague and potentially metaphorical that you struggle to fully engage with it. And while it's okay for a movie to make you question what's real and not, at a certain point, it just takes away from what's on screen.

Maybe another viewing and I'd be more satisfied with it. Maybe I'd grasp certain things more. But I have my doubts. I think I've landed on what really happened, and I can't help but feel ambivalent about the resolution to this love story.

So if you're not dying to spend money on a big night at the cinema, you could probably wait for "Mother Mary" to hit one of the best streaming services (likely HBO Max). That said, seeing the pop performances on the big screen was worth the price of admission.

"Mother Mary" is in theaters now