And now he returns to cinemas with a vibrantly ritualistic experience of image and sound as Academy Award-winning actress Anne Hathaway, alongside rising powerhouse Michaela Coel, deliver transcendent performances in this beautifully twisted portrait of artistry, creation and emotional possession in Mother Mary.

And you’re not ready for this pulsating watch of theatrical immediacy to completely take over you.

Long-buried wounds rise to the surface when iconic pop star Mother Mary reunites with her estranged best friend and former costume designer on the eve of her comeback performance.

A Burning Gothic Ghost Story Wrapped In Haute Couture

Anytime we see David Lowery’s name attached to a film project, we immediately feel goosebumps. He’s a filmmaker with such a command of his craft that he almost feels like an heir apparent to the master craftsmen of cinema, echoing the pure filmmaking style and ethos of directors such as Francis Ford Coppola and James Gray. And now he returns to cinemas with A24’s Mother Mary to really shake things up.

Following the journey of fallen pop star Mother Mary (Hathaway), who in the faltering fallout of her self-destruction finds her way back to former collaborator and fashion impresario Sam Anselm (Coel), she arrives with a unique commission: to build her a costume for her final ever show. But this ploy is only the beginning of a deeper, far more personal mystery that binds these two women together in a force of supernatural possession that neither can predict nor comprehend.

The end result is a burning, ecstatic Gothic haute couture fashion ghost story that completely takes hold of the audience.

As an audience member, when you get the chance to witness something truly original, you can’t help but get caught up in the immense ecstasy of the presentation. And that’s exactly what Lowery delivers here. This intrinsic puzzle-box of a picture unleashes layer upon layer of narrative contextually, shaped through the interactions of two deeply unique characters, while examining what happens when contemporary society comes between soulmates, and how no one can interfere with the force of nature or the momentum of artistry itself.

Lowery constructs Mother Mary as a shifting chess match of intrigue, desire, suspense, horror and presence, with the movements of each character revealing something deeper, darker and more desperate about one another inside this turbulent hurricane of visual splendour. There’s a sharp, almost Shakespearean edge to the drama which, matched with its intriguing gothic horror sensibility, keeps audiences on edge the entire way through.

The tension builds moment by moment, while the surprises — and the feelings they invoke of love, romance, horror, terror and total bliss — make this a piece of cinema that thumps with a loud and burning heart of pure artistry.

A Sensory Explosion Of Music, Light & Emotion

The whole experience of Mother Mary is a sublime treat courtesy of Lowery and an incredible team of performers and collaborators, and the sheer visual and audio presentation becomes a cocktail of sheer sensation.

Everything about this film carries a level of hyperreality as Lowery pushes the extremes of pop-star performance to a solar level of burning intensity, and the visuals are utterly sublime. Mixing the gothic shadows of Sam’s deserted English estate with Mother Mary’s circular, revealing stage of light and sound is a genius move, and the way the camera moves and transitions pulls audiences directly into the emotions and desires of these characters.

Light and colour swirl about the frame constantly, and this becomes a work of evocative sensation where your senses buzz with feeling from beginning to end.

The soundtrack is equally palpitating courtesy of the artistry of Daniel Hart, Jack Antonoff, Charli XCX and FKA twigs. Every sonic beat lands with immediate force, and it completely overtakes the audience in the process.

Anne Hathaway & Michaela Coel Deliver Career-Best Work

The characterisation within Mother Mary also exists on another level entirely, with Hathaway and Coel delivering mirrored portrayals of fraught, broken co-dependence that take a dark and twisted turn before resolving themselves in the most unexpected way imaginable.

With Mother Mary, Hathaway presents a character whose talents have almost consumed her to the point of madness. In Lowery’s hands, she becomes a Taylor Swift-esque icon pushed to the absolute edge of sanity, and it results in something genuinely unique.

It’s difficult to remember seeing Hathaway this vulnerable and electrifying in equal measure, and what emerges is a character caught in flux between performative goddess and shattered soul. And it absolutely pulls you in.

Matched against her is Michaela Coel as the enigmatic and almost unknowable Sam Anselm, a genius fashion designer and Mother Mary’s original collaborator — perhaps even her creator. Through her interactions with her soulmate-turned-spurned-nemesis, we witness something deeply raw, intimate and psychologically dangerous unfold on screen.

Coel’s presence and performance continually keep audiences on their toes in the most deliberate and unexpected way possible, and the chemistry between both performers burns with unsettling intensity.

Final Verdict – A Pulsating Watch of Performance

Mother Mary is a powerful expression of pure storytelling and heart-wrought emotion, with its visual and performative flair utterly consuming audiences whole.

For those seeking a cinema experience of pure artistic splendour, David Lowery’s latest stands as an utter triumph — haunting, hypnotic and overflowing with feverish cinematic passion.

Trailer

Image: A24 Films

The post ‘Mother Mary’ – David Lowery Conducts A Fever Dream Of Fame, Obsession & Gothic Desire – Review appeared first on SpicyPulp.

King Arthur’s headstrong nephew embarks on a daring quest to confront the Green Knight, a mysterious giant who appears at Camelot. Risking his head, he sets off on an epic adventure to prove himself before his family and court.

Adapting the 14th-century medieval chivalric romance of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to the big screen in The Green Knight, director David Lowery finds new ground to explore with this ancient text. His adaptation here is both a literal adaptation of the work, while also taking it to a place that audiences may not expect. Lowery strays little from the original text of the story but also re-interprets it in such a way that audiences who may be familiar with this story don’t know what comes next. As a director, he is clearly focused on the moral and internal journey that the main character of Dev Patel’s Gawain must take and this film is very much a character piece in construction.

The Green Knight also bears the style of a singular vision in its construction. And Lowery’s hand is present throughout all of it. From its sparse narrative to its dynamic and gothic visuals to its haunting music, all parts of The Green Knight serve in working to bring Lowery’s vision to life. And what a vision this is. Being very much reflective of the fantasy films of the late 1980s and early 1990s, The Green Knight is a very organic piece of work that focuses on character, rather than sheer swashbuckling theatrics. Lowery focuses on the tasks that form up Gawain’s quest to seek out the Green Knight and how they test the character of this would-be knight.

As the film’s leading man Dev Patel makes his mark as the would-be knight Gawain, and it’s a role that gives the young actor a strong test to take. Patel portrays Gawain as a rather headstrong and ego-bound young man who is eager to prove himself and become a true knight of the Round Table. But after accepting the challenge of the Green Knight he sets out on his quest in pursuit of honour and finds that the reality of his task is far harder than he could have ever foreseen. It’s shocking to see Gawain’s transformation from loutish lad to the would-be knight, honour-bound and facing death, and there’s a great honest quality, that borders on the spiritual, with Patel’s performance in the role.

Joining Patel in the duel role of his common lover Essel and the dignified Lady is Alicia Vikander and she is a terrific addition to the film. As the baseborn, brothel dwelling Essel, she is enamoured with the would-be knight, who is also a nephew to King Arthur, and her scenes here are sweet and genuine. But it’s in the role of The Lady where we see a far different performance. Cloaked in suspicion, temptation and sorcery, there is something edgy and off-putting about her performance as The Lady and she keeps this young knight on his toes. My favourite part of the film was a terrific mythological monologue that Vikander delivers with absolute conviction as The Lady and it certainly ensnares the attention of the audience.

To look upon The Green Knight is to witness a film that is a lavish and beautiful piece of creative expression. It is literally a work of art come to life. The cinematography of Andrew Droz Palermo, the costuming of Malgosia Turzanska, the production design of Jade Healy, the art direction of Louise Mathews and Christine McDonagh and the music of Daniel Hart produce a richly textured piece of cinema that will make your eyes marvel. Colour and light dance about the screen and audiences are pulled into a landscape that is both enchanting and dangerous and holding the touch of the mystic and bizarre. It’s a lavish fantasy landscape to look upon and you won’t be able to look away from the images that Lowery and his team bring to the screen.

Thematically there is also a lot going on within The Green Knight and it requires multiple viewing to seek out the themes that Lowery is playing with here. Not only does he keep to traditional elements of the original medieval text such as ‘the beheading game’ and ‘the exchange of winnings’, but he also dives deep into issues of morality, environmentalism and the heroes journey itself. Lowery uses The Green Knight to reconstruct the very nature of the heroes journey and the actions that it includes, but he also delves into the complex psychology that lies at the heart of all heroes. This exploration of themes by Lowery makes The Green Knight that much more complex of a picture and provides plenty of intellectual stimulation for audiences.

The Green Knight is a rich and textured exploration of chivalry, honour and the heroes journey and those seeking mysticism, magic and adventure will be well entertained. It is a beautiful picture to look upon and film aficionados who are up for something different will be well-rewarded with a very unique viewing experience.

Image: Amazon Prime

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