Mother Mary

Mother Mary is scheduled for release on 17 April 2026. Written and directed by David Lowery, the film stars Anne Hathaway, Michaela Coel, Hunter Schafer, Sian Clifford, and FKA Twigs. Produced and distributed by A24, the film is positioned as a psychologically charged drama-thriller exploring identity, desire, power, and artistic obsession.

Set against the intersecting worlds of global pop stardom and high fashion, Mother Mary follows Mary, an internationally renowned pop singer navigating a period of creative and emotional rupture. As she prepares for a new tour, Mary reconnects with Sam Anselm, a fashion designer from her past, when she seeks a defining costume that can reshape her public image. What begins as a professional collaboration gradually evolves into an intense psychosexual relationship that destabilizes both women.

The film examines how intimacy and control blur when art, ego, and vulnerability collide. Mary’s carefully constructed persona begins to fracture as her dependence on Sam deepens, while Sam is drawn into Mary’s gravitational celebrity orbit, where admiration, resentment, and desire coexist. Their relationship unfolds as both a creative partnership and a psychological duel, exposing unresolved wounds and unspoken ambitions.

David Lowery’s direction emphasizes interiority and mood, using restrained dialogue and atmospheric visuals to reflect the characters’ emotional states. The narrative is less concerned with conventional plot mechanics and more focused on psychological progression, power shifts, and the cost of self-mythologizing. Themes of authorship, exploitation, and emotional ownership run throughout the film.

Music plays a central role in Mother Mary, with an original score by Daniel Hart and original songs contributed by Jack Antonoff, Charli XCX, and FKA Twigs, reinforcing the film’s exploration of performance and identity. The soundtrack is designed to function not just as accompaniment but as an extension of Mary’s inner life.

Mother Mary continues A24’s tradition of character-driven, boundary-pushing cinema and marks another introspective collaboration between Lowery and complex female protagonists.