A24 has released new behind-the-scenes footage for Mother Mary, and it is doing exactly what good preview material should: raising the temperature without giving anything essential away. Written and directed by David Lowery, the psychological drama-thriller arrives in select theaters on April 17 before expanding nationwide on April 24, and the early footage suggests it may be one of the more genuinely surprising films A24 has put into the world in some time.
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Anne Hathaway plays Mother Mary, an iconic pop star preparing for a major comeback performance. When she reunites with Sam Anselm, her estranged best friend and former costume designer played by Michaela Coel, the carefully maintained surface of her return begins to crack. The premise is deceptively contained for a film that clearly has larger ambitions, and the chemistry between the two leads visible in the footage gives it an immediate psychological charge. Hathaway has spoken about her deep personal connection to the project, and that investment reads on screen.
The music dimension adds another layer worth paying attention to. Mother Mary will feature original songs performed by Hathaway, written and produced by Jack Antonoff, Charli xcx, and FKA twigs, the last of whom also appears in the film as part of a supporting cast that includes Hunter Schafer, Kaia Gerber, Jessica Brown Findlay, Alba Baptista, and Sian Clifford. A film about a pop star built around original music produced by that particular group of collaborators is a creative swing that few studios other than A24 would be willing to take.
Coel closes out the behind-the-scenes footage with a line that lands with the quiet confidence of someone who has seen the finished thing. “You haven’t seen anything like this before.” From the writer and star of I May Destroy You, that is not a claim made lightly.
