What do you get when you cross Lady Gaga’s theatrical flair with Taylor Swift’s emotional storytelling? According to Anne Hathaway, you get Mother Mary.
In A24’s latest fever dream of a film, Hathaway stars as a world-weary pop icon who runs away while on tour in search of an old friend and fashion designer (played by Michaela Coel), who helped build her iconic persona: Mother Mary.
Directed by David Lowery, who is known for his work on The Green Knight, the film stars Hunter Schafer, Alba Baptista, Jessica Brown Findlay, and Kaia Gerber. In addition to the star-studded cast, Jack Antonoff, producer extraordinaire and frequent collaborator with Swift, is also composing original music for the soundtrack in collaboration with Charli XCX.
A movie about a pop star featuring a soundtrack created by Antonoff and Charli XCX? It’s a music lover’s dream!
However, according to Hathaway in her recent interview with Vogue, Mother Mary is about a lot more than just a tale of diva drama, sad childhoods, and couture meltdowns.
The film is, apparently, also very surreal. It’s set mainly in a 13th-century barn rumored to drive its occupants insane. The plot also revolves around the making of a dress and consists of conversations between the two characters, with a few “demented” flashbacks thrown into the mix.
It all sounds very intense, but perhaps not as intense as the amount of training Hathaway underwent to pull off the role, which included over two years of singing training, dance lessons, and lots and lots of screaming.
“What struck me right away, reading the script, is that you can’t ‘perform’ Mother Mary,” Hathaway said, sharing why she chose to put herself through such a draining process. “If I got the part, I would have to become material David could craft with.”
“I had to submit to being a beginner,” she continued. “The humility of that—showing up every day knowing you’re going to suck. And it has to be okay. You’re not ‘bad.’ You’re just a beginner. Getting to that mindset—I had to shed some things that were hard to shed. It was welcome. But it was hard, the way transformational experiences can be hard.”
While there is still not a specific release date for the film, people are already getting hyped for it over on social media.
On X, one fan listed out all the reasons why this movie will be perfect—for them, at least.
“I cannot apologize for the person I become when Mother Mary comes out. Anne Hathaway as a pop star? Directed by David Lowery? Songs written by Jack Antonoff and Charli XCX? Costarring Micaela Coel and Hunter Schafer? This movie is FOR ME,” they wrote.
“Oh, I’m sat,” a user posted.
Another wrote: “Anne, Gaga, and Taylor in the same sentence ohh god what did we do to deserve this honor.”
Although the Vogue article warns that Mother Mary is a “weird movie,” people seem ready to embrace it—demented flashbacks and all.
