Society’s fascination with dark pop-star stories isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. On the heels of 2018’s Natalie Portman-starring Vox Lux, The Weeknd’s The Idol, and Donald Glover’s Beyoncé-stan skewering Swarm comes a new entry into the category: Mother Mary, starring Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel with original music from Charli xcx, Jack Antonoff, and FKA Twigs. The buzzy A24 film sounds like an Internet fever dream, but it’s very real. Here’s everything we know about it so far:
What is the plot of Mother Mary?
The film stars Anne Hathaway in the titular role, a “Gaga-Taylor Swift hybrid,” according to Hathaway’s Vogue cover story, who flees tour in the midst of a breakdown. She seeks out an old friend (Coel), a fashion designer who helped her craft her Mother Mary persona in the first place. The film is from The Green Knight director David Lowery and has been billed as both an “epic pop melodrama” and a “psychosexual pop thriller.”
Also per Vogue, much of the film revolves around the making of a dress, and takes place in a barn, with Hathaway and Coel “hanging out.” Additionally, there are major concert sequences with Hathaway performing.
In November 2024, A24 shared a first look at Hathaway in the film, below:
Is there a trailer?
The first Mother Mary trailer was released on December 2, 2025. It begins with Hathaway’s Mary returning to Coel’s character in need of a dress. It teases a complicated relationship between the two, with Hathaway having left behind Coel, perhaps as her fame grew. The clip also hints at a few horror elements, making this film appear much darker than your typical pop-star story.
Does Anne Hathaway sing in the film?
Absolutely. Hathaway dusted off her vocal cords (never forget she won an Oscar for her turn as Fantine in Les Misérables!) to record original music by Antonoff and Charli xcx. To prepare for the role, she took daily dance classes for nearly two years with choreographer Dani Vitale, plus intensive vocal training that made her realize her natural register is lower than the soprano she thought she was.
“I finally learned how to breathe,” Hathaway told Vogue of the singing lessons. “My body was so locked up—I literally couldn’t take a deep breath. I’d been trying to open that space for years and I thought it was physically impossible. All my breath, it was stuck….”
Who else is in the cast?
In addition to Coel and Hathaway, the cast includes Hunter Schafer as Mother Mary’s assistant, Kaia Gerber, Downton Abbey’s Jessica Brown Findlay, Fleabag’s Sian Clifford, and FKA Twigs (Twigs also contributed music to the film, along with Charli xcx and Jack Antonoff).
When is the Mother Mary release date?
The film will be in theaters in April 2026.
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