Weekend Mullings - Mother Mary

I wouldn't argue with anyone who thinks Mother Mary isn't a very good movie. It probably isn't. But sometimes a film is about things so specific to things you love, you can look past "quality" and just appreciate all the ways it succeeds and fails.

Anne Hathaway plays "Mother Mary," a pop star who is staging a comeback after an accident that may or not have been an accident. But she's reached a breaking point, and is convinced the perfect dress will be her only salvation, and her only savior will be her former stylist Sam Anselm (Michaela Cole). But there was a fracture in their partnership and friendship that Sam hasn't come to peace with, so she's more than a little reluctant to take on the project, especially since Mary needs the dress in three days.

None of the dialogue these two women share in Sam's expansive studio (a converted barn on a country estate) is anything close to realistic. Their speech is filled with so much innuendo, vagueness, and symbolism that at one point Mary says "these metaphors are exhausting." But this dialogue - and I agree, it does become exhausting - fits the film's mood, which is gothic and ethereal, and includes a ghost. 

Horror movies centered on pop stars seem to be having a moment (Smile 2; Trap; hell, I'll even include KPop Demon Hunters here). Mother Mary takes a while to reveal its horror, but it's definitely there, if a little hard to define. Is that a real ghost? Or another exhausting metaphor?

There are two reasons Mother Mary doesn't fall into a black hole of pretension and that's Anne Hathaway and Michaela Cole. Hathaway makes a great pop star, singing very catchy songs by Charli xcx and Jack Antonoff. Writer and director David Lowery has said Taylor Swift was the primary influence for the character of Mother Mary, but Mary's way more goth, and reads much closer to Lady Gaga, at least aesthetically. Either way, the concert scenes are electric, and Hathaway's scenes in Sam's studio can often feel monotonous in comparison.

And I can't imagine any other actress being able to deliver a performance as haunted as Michaela Cole's. If you've seen her brilliant TV series I May Destroy You, you know she can balance moments of gut-busting comedy with gut-wrenching drama perfectly. She is able to do so much as Sam with just her amazing face alone, a face that definitely deserves to be seen on a big screen. I hope she gets a huge studio movie that allows her to be hilarious.

I'm not entirely sure what Mother Mary is ultimately trying to say about stardom, collaboration, friendship, or even ghosts. But I do know riveting performances, catchy music, beautiful gowns, and a gothic vibe can sometimes be enough to enrapture me.

Weekend Mullings - The Drama

Can you ever truly know someone? And would you ever really want to? That's one of the big questions at the center of the romantic anti-comedy The Drama, the new anti-romantic comedy from Norwegian writer and director Kristopher Borgli.

Zendaya and Robert Pattinson are Emma and Charlie, one of those couples that seem to populate countless romantic comedies. They meet cute at a coffee shop, have seemingly interesting, if vaguely defined jobs that pay them enough to live in a beautiful, two-story New York flat, and they're about a week away from their wedding day.

During a wine and entree tasting with their best friends Rachel and Mike (Alana Haim and Mamoudou Athie), Rachel suggests they all confess the most horrible thing they've ever done, since she and Mike both did the same prior to their wedding. This is, of course, a terrible idea, but being slightly drunk, they all do detail their terrible past deeds, and laugh them off - until they get to Emma, who confesses something so horrible no one is able to get past it.

I think it's probably possible to go into the movie knowing what that terrible thing is and still have it be an effective experience. But there's also some fun to be had in being surprised and possibly shocked by her confession, so I'll be vague and just point out that what she confesses is merely something she planned to do, whereas her fiance and friends very clearly did horrible things.

That no one points out this difference is a little frustrating. Emma's being Black is also never taken into consideration by her fiance, or friends, or really, the film itself, in how that might have played a part in Emma's past actions. 

Zendaya continues to impress in every role she takes on; she's so vulnerable and lovable as Emma, it becomes really painful to watch those around her just lose their shit after her confession. Alana Haim's turn as Rachel reaches almost Karen levels of hysteria; she's effective, if a little shrill. And Pattinson is quickly turning into a master when it comes to milquetoast partner roles.

Director Borgli's non-linear approach to the story line, with its many flashbacks, and flashes of fantasy projections, keeps the film moving at a clip, but can also be frustrating as it does not allow time for the characters of Emma and Charlie to fully develop. Still, I found myself completely engaged with this frustrating film. Conversations about it are likely to be more complex and insightful than anything the movie has to say about the controversial topic at its center. But maybe that's the point?