The Bitter Kitten Movie Club: "Mother Mary" (2026)

Tom & Lorenzo’s Pop Style Opinionfest

Tom and Lorenzo review the 2026 film 'Mother Mary,' directed by David Lowery, which explores fame, friendship, fashion, and trauma through a stylized narrative featuring Anne Hathaway

Key takeaways

• David Lowery's direction creates a visually stunning but narratively disjointed experience that splits sharply between a grounded first half and an abstract second half.
• Michaela Coel delivers a hypnotic, critically praised performance as a high-end fashion designer, anchoring the film's early emotional core.

Main topics

• Film review of Mother Mary
• Fashion industry aesthetics and costume design

Notable quotes

"I hate metaphors on top of metaphors."

Conclusion

The episode serves as a critical deep dive into the gap between technica

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Bye. Speaker 1 (0:23) We're Tommy Lorenzo. And this is the Bitter Kitten Movie Club. Hello, kittens. Welcome back to another edition of the BKMC, a supplemental edition of the PopStyle Opinion Fest podcast, where we take a look at one film per week and give you all our thoughts on it. This week's film is Mother Mary, starring Anne Hathaway and Michaela Cole, directed by David Lowery. And we have thoughts. Lots and lots and lots of thoughts. I will say two things. Speaker 1 (0:51) One is that we did not watch this together, and I'm kind of glad that we didn't watch this together. The Phillies had to screw up their chances at the postseason last night, and I needed to watch that game. So I watched that in the afternoon. I watched the movie in the afternoon, and Lorenzo watched it at night. Anyway, after I watched it, or after he watched it, I said to him, listen, I have no idea what you think of this movie, and I'm going to wait until tomorrow to find out. Um, I have not been able to stop thinking about this movie, which in a normal... Normally, I would consider that a mark in its favor. And begrudgingly, I guess I do have to do that. But for me, I can't stop thinking about this movie because I'm so frustrated by it. Um, but actually, I am dying to hear. I have no idea what Lorenzo thinks, so go. Speaker 2 (1:42) See, I didn't know much about the movie, so I... It was one of those movies that, first of all, I would never pick that movie. It's not that kind of movie. But again, that's what I love about the club. I'm surprised Speaker 1 (1:54) to hear you say that, though. Speaker 2 (1:56) No, it's not. It's about Speaker 1 (1:57) fashion and pop culture? But I Speaker 2 (1:59) hate metaphors Speaker 1 (2:00) on top of metaphors. Oh, okay. Well, we'll get to that part. I Speaker 2 (2:02) can't stand things coming out of your heart. I hate that kind of movie. Let's just do overviews, okay? So anyway, but I hate the movie less today. Oh, Speaker 1 (2:13) my God. That's interesting. I hate it more. Speaker 2 (2:15) See, I hate it less. But I guess because of all the fashion and all the other stuff that I was able to see. And because I like the director, I understand what he was trying to do. I do Speaker 1 (2:27) too, but I don't think it was very interesting. Speaker 2 (2:28) Right. So all that. So I, but throughout the entire movie, I'm like, what the hell am I watching here? This is so weird. And it's not, not, oh my God, here we go again. But, but, but it was. Interesting. It was an experience. Speaker 1 (2:46) Yes. All right. Let me say a few things because I don't want to jump straight into... Right. There is a first half to this film and a second half to this film. And part of my problem with this film is that they are two completely different films. They are. I was enraptured in the first half of this film, the first 45 minutes or so. I was hypnotized by it. It looked gorgeous. Yes. The milieu... Listen, 20 years of covering fashion, it just felt correct to me. I was like, yes, this feels like a high-end fashion designer's atelier and home. She Speaker 2 (3:22) knew exactly what she was doing. Yeah. Michaela Cole, yeah. Speaker 1 (3:25) Exactly. And she, and again, Michaela, I believed that that was a high-end fad. Yes, Speaker 2 (3:30) yes. Speaker 1 (3:30) I mean, I believed it. I was like, that's, they got that so, so right. And she is hypnotic. She is flipping. hypnotic on screen. I just watched The Christophers, which is coming up in a... And I'm not gonna talk about it. We'll do it probably next month. Same very different character, but same sort of, Jesus Christ, you cannot stop. Not just looking at her, because that reduces her to her looks. Considering her, like everything she says and does, her movements, her voice, you're just drawn in by it. Speaker 2 (4:03) Mike Helico, it's absolutely a fantastic... artist. Artist. Yes. She really is. She's so creative. If you have never watched it, watch one of the most wonderful things she ever created called Chewing Gum, which is a show about this girl in London becoming a woman. Jonathan Bailey's in it too, Speaker 1 (4:23) right? Or no, that's the other? Speaker 2 (4:25) No, that's the other. Yeah, I think so. It is hysterical. It was created by her. The jokes are hysterical. She is so, so, so funny. That's how I pretty much kind of discovered her. I started watching Chewing Gum. I don't know if it's available anymore. I keep trying to watch again. Speaker 1 (4:38) She also Speaker 2 (4:38) did Speaker 1 (4:38) I Will Destroy You, and that might be the one that... I Will Destroy You Speaker 2 (4:40) is also fantastic. Especially given what we're going on right now. It is a fantastic also show. I think it's a show. I don't think it's a movie. It is. Anyway, so she is very good. She is... So creative, so wonderful. You know, I wish she would get bigger, but it's obviously Speaker 1 (5:02) not her fault, you know. Well, this isn't a small movie. I mean, she's Speaker 2 (5:06) co Speaker 1 (5:06) -starring with Anne Hathaway. No, Speaker 2 (5:07) it's not, but she could be doing Speaker 1 (5:07) so Speaker 2 (5:07) much more stuff. Speaker 1 (5:08) But Speaker 2 (5:09) she is extremely creative, very good. Dunny. Oh my God, she's so gorgeous. She is Speaker 1 (5:15) gorgeous. I didn't want to reduce her to her looks, but she truly is. That's why Speaker 2 (5:19) I started talking about how wonderful and creative and everything she is, but she's also gorgeous. Her face, her lips, her eyes. And she's Speaker 1 (5:29) in, I know she's in a full beat in this film, but she is dressed down through the entire story. Her hair is not styled or anything. And honestly, she's the most gorgeous thing in the film, even though Anne Hathaway basically plays Lady Gaga. So Speaker 2 (5:44) I was happy to see her, and she is phenomenal in the movie. Her Speaker 1 (5:49) scenes in the beginning, because they essentially, the first 45 minutes, Anne Hathaway barely speaks at all. And within 10 minutes, it becomes a two-hander. Almost the entire film is just the two of them. Right. I was fascinated by the first part. And so... Uh, Michaela holds that first part of the film because so much of the dialogue is hers, and so much of it is establishing... as much as the film wants to establish. And we'll get into that later because I mean, there's vague and then there's just obtuse and this film tipped over far too much into the latter. But I just wanted to single her out because... And I was sitting there going, oh my God, is that what this film is about? Is it just two artists who hate each other trying to create something beautiful? Because that's a fast... I'm all in. And there was actually a scene with... Speaker 1 (6:45) with her and Anne Hathaway, well, obviously, every scene is her, almost every scene is her and Anne Hathaway. And Anne Hathaway is trying to describe what she needs out of this dress. And she can't get it, and Michaelical is throwing words at her. And it just felt electric, because it felt like two very creative people struggling to figure something out. And at one point, Anne does this hand gesture in front of her face. And Michael Cole goes, clarity. And it's such a good moment. It's like, yeah, I'm not a particularly creative person. I know I write, but I, you know, I don't write fiction or anything like that. But even so, to see the creative process well represented on film like that, and to have it be a part of a fashion design process, I could not tell you how much I was buying in at that point. Speaker 2 (7:38) I agree. The first part, I was mesmerized by her, obviously, Mike Ellico, because the way she delivered every line. And, you know, it helps that she has that gorgeous accent. So everything is said in such a beautiful way. I do question those lines because it felt like a script to me. It Speaker 1 (7:56) writerly as hell. I agree. Speaker 2 (7:58) That's what you think you should have said after the Speaker 1 (8:02) conversation is done. That's perfect. I think maybe Lowry, who actually also wrote the screenplay, I think maybe, since the whole film is so metaphorical, allegorical, whatever you want to call it, I think maybe you could look at it that way.