Director David Lowery is returning to the supernatural with his new psychological thriller, Mother Mary, starring Anne Hathaway.
According to polygon.com, the film's trailer explicitly states, “This is not a ghost story,” despite Lowery's history with the genre.
The plot follows Mother Mary, a globally famous pop star played by Hathaway, who reunites with her former creative collaborator, Sam Anselm, played by Michaela Coel.
As reported by Polygon, the two women meet at a cavernous farmhouse on Sam's property, where Mary seeks a new dress for her upcoming comeback concert.
A psychological encounter
While the film avoids traditional horror tropes, it centers on a shared experience with a ghostly entity depicted as a writhing stretch of red fabric.
The outlet reports that the film builds horror through a psychological duel, eventually evolving into a sequence resembling an exorcism.
Mary’s encounter with this entity previously caused a public accident at a concert, leaving her with both physical and mental scars.
Lowery has previously explored similar themes in films like The Green Knight and A Ghost Story, using supernatural elements to represent memory and grief.
In The Green Knight, Lowery used a ghostly figure to dramatize a quest, while A Ghost Story featured a character attempting to communicate from beyond the grave.
Polygon notes that Lowery frequently uses ghosts to represent the intersection between the physical body and the lasting impact of what is left behind.
