Inside the Backlash to Anne Hathaway’s New A24 Film

So, Anne Hathaway is back in the spotlight this week with 'Mother Mary,' her latest movie for A24, and—spoiler alert—the critical response is already shaking out to be pretty split. If you haven’t heard, this one’s directed by David Lowery, the guy behind 'The Green Knight' and 'A Ghost Story.' If you go in expecting a simple pop diva drama, well, you might get a weird surprise.

What Critics Are (And Aren't) Loving

Let's talk numbers first: 'Mother Mary' is hitting Rotten Tomatoes with a 75% score. That’s not bad. In fact, most movies would kill for that kind of approval out of the gate. But it doesn’t mean everyone’s in love. There are some pretty sharp (and honestly, entertaining) critiques flying around.

The loudest complaints? Critics are calling it way too melodramatic, and not in a fun, over-the-top-soap kind of way. David Rooney at The Hollywood Reporter basically said there’s a lot of talk that doesn’t really say much, and that the whole thing stretches out so thin it’s "self-consciously cool but distancing and empty." Yikes.

Over at Variety, Owen Gleiberman went for the jugular, saying:

"The most befuddlingly pretentious movie about a pop star since Brady Corbet's Vox Lux. It heads down a blind alley of cosmic meaning that, in the end, means nothing."

So, if you have post-traumatic stress from 'Vox Lux,' maybe brace yourself.

Where most of the negative reviews agree: people just aren’t connecting to the movie’s Big Deep Themes. Instead, the feeling is kind of, 'Okay, but what was that actually about?' It’s the cinematic version of pondering existence for two hours and then forgetting to pick up milk on the way home.

What Actually Works

But here’s the funny thing—even in the harshest critiques, everyone’s giving Anne Hathaway all the love. Review after review (even the 'I was bored stiff' ones) shout out what a powerhouse performance she gives. The visuals and overall vibe get a solid thumbs up, too, with a few people saying it’s even capable of delivering some legit scares in the middle of all the artsy drama.

What 'Mother Mary' Is Actually About

• Anne Hathaway stars as a globe-dominating pop singer who’s spiraling through an existential crisis.
• She ditches her tour and goes to reconnect with an old friend—the very person who helped build her superstar image in the first place.
• There’s plenty of chaos when these two get back together, and the rest is, well, the sort of thing critics split hairs over.

Stacked Cast and Crew

Hathaway isn’t going it alone—she’s joined by Michaela Coel, Hunter Schafer, Jessica Brown Findlay, Sian Clifford, and FKA Twigs. Behind the camera and the script is David Lowery, who tends to swing for the fences (sometimes literally, if you watched 'The Green Knight'). Producers include Lowery himself, plus Toby Halbrooks, James M. Johnston, Jeanie Igoe, Jonas Katzenstein, Maximilian Leo, and Jonathan Saubach.

So whether 'Mother Mary' ends up on your must-see list or your 'what the heck did I just watch?' list, know you’re not alone. This is one of those movies that’ll probably spark way too many heated late-night group chats, and honestly, that’s sometimes half the fun.