This tells this story of a musician on the cusp of a comeback after a breakdown who panics about the costume designed for her. She retreats to an estranged friend and fashion designer to see if she will make a new dress for the musician. The two spend days on a back and forth where they discuss their time apart, the reasoning for their estrangement, and their inner demons. One of those demons, they decide, needs to be exorcized. The singer’s manager finds her and brings her back just in time for the performance where she sings the song she wrote for her friend while the designer makes her a dress that truly encapsulates who she is as a performer.
This film is full of symbolism about fame, forgiveness, and friendship. The demon, or ghost as these two characters call it, is represented by flowing red fabric. Red represents love and passion but also anger and war. Within this color, the story of a friendship gone full circle. One must account for her sins while the other must find forgiveness.
Anne Hathaway gives one of her best performances as the singer whose haloed Mother Mary costuming persona was invented by her friend but became who she was known as. To break from it meant breaking from her friend, something that wasn’t clear to the designer who had put pieces of herself into the clothing.
Michaela Coel is Sam the fashion designer who struggles for new ideas and finally finds new inspiration when her friend returns. As great as Hathaway is, I found myself drawn to Coel’s performance. Her expressive language and eyes were electric. Really looking forward to what else she does going forward.
The music and costumes of the singer are reminiscent of a pop culture era during which Taylor Swift filled stadiums worldwide and reminded me of recent films using this to tell stories. M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap, Vox Lux, and Smile 2 give similar pop star performances on a big stage. Mother Mary has more in common with the latter, using symbolism within colors and imagery to further along the story.
It’s dialogue heavy but never boring. Hathaway and Coel give such magnetic performances that I couldn’t wait to find out what happened. Part of me wants this to be a genuine ghost story – one where the singer dies during her accident/breakdown and the designer sees her ghost in order to move on from issues that were never resolved. But part of me knows if this was true then there would be no explanation for the singer’s entourage showing up to collect her. Either way, that red dress is worth waiting for.
4 out of 5 stars.
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Becky Tyler Art and Photography 
This tells this story of a musician on the cusp of a comeback after a breakdown who panics about the costume designed for her. She retreats to an estranged friend and fashion designer to see if she will make a new dress for the musician. The two spend days on a back and forth where they discuss their time apart, the reasoning for their estrangement, and their inner demons. One of those demons, they decide, needs to be exorcized. The singer’s manager finds her and brings her back just in time for the performance where she sings the song she wrote for her friend while the designer makes her a dress that truly encapsulates who she is as a performer.
This film is full of symbolism about fame, forgiveness, and friendship. The demon, or ghost as these two characters call it, is represented by flowing red fabric. Red represents love and passion but also anger and war. Within this color, the story of a friendship gone full circle. One must account for her sins while the other must find forgiveness.
Anne Hathaway gives one of her best performances as the singer whose haloed Mother Mary costuming persona was invented by her friend but became who she was known as. To break from it meant breaking from her friend, something that wasn’t clear to the designer who had put pieces of herself into the clothing.
Michaela Coel is Sam the fashion designer who struggles for new ideas and finally finds new inspiration when her friend returns. As great as Hathaway is, I found myself drawn to Coel’s performance. Her expressive language and eyes were electric. Really looking forward to what else she does going forward.
The music and costumes of the singer are reminiscent of a pop culture era during which Taylor Swift filled stadiums worldwide and reminded me of recent films using this to tell stories. M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap, Vox Lux, and Smile 2 give similar pop star performances on a big stage. Mother Mary has more in common with the latter, using symbolism within colors and imagery to further along the story.
It’s dialogue heavy but never boring. Hathaway and Coel give such magnetic performances that I couldn’t wait to find out what happened. Part of me wants this to be a genuine ghost story – one where the singer dies during her accident/breakdown and the designer sees her ghost in order to move on from issues that were never resolved. But part of me knows if this was true then there would be no explanation for the singer’s entourage showing up to collect her. Either way, that red dress is worth waiting for.
4 out of 5 stars.
Discover more from Becky Tyler Art and Photography
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
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