Once in a rare cinematic alignment, audiences are treated to a Hathaweek—when two films starring Anne Hathaway open simultaneously. In 2026, that coincidence brings us The Devil Wears Prada 2 and Mother Mary, both sharing a fashion thread. While the sequel to the 2006 hit offers decent gags and swanky outfits, it is the second film that commands attention.
A Pop Star's Desperate Comeback
Written and directed by David Lowery (A Ghost Story, The Green Knight), Mother Mary follows the titular pop star, played by Hathaway, three days before a highly anticipated comeback after a mysterious onstage accident. She arrives at the doorstep of her former friend and designer, Sam Anselm (Michaela Coel), whom she hasn't spoken to in a decade. The creative break-up left “bile rising” between them. Mother Mary begs Sam to make a dress for the headline show—one that will embody her reinvention.
Despite calling the pop star a “tumour,” the dressmaker agrees to a “transubstantiation of feeling,” translating the singer's emotions into fashion. Then the narrative takes a turn into the strange.
Gothic Ghost Story Meets Fashion Psychodrama
What unfolds is a chamber piece that morphs into a Gothic ghost story, where the metaphysical meets the spiritual, culminating in an exorcism of mutual trauma. Central to this is a ghost made of shimmering red fabric. Lowery crafts a dread-infused meditation on creativity, emotional closure, and how darkness and the divine are inseparable within artistic ambition. Religious iconography pervades: from the pop icon's stage name to the “transubstantiation,” costumes, and a figurative haunting that becomes material.
Hathaway portrays a Lady Gaga-esque figure, frequently pathetic and emotionally stunted, desperately seeking a new spark with a single inspired by Einstein's “spooky action at a distance”—a reference to quantum entanglement. The screenplay is verbose, and as Mother Mary herself says, “These metaphors are exhausting.” Some viewers may be put off by the self-serious rhetoric; others will appreciate that the pretentious dialogue serves a purpose.
Coel is brilliant as the glacial and vengeful Sam, teasing out humour within philosophical musings. Costume designer Bina Daigeler (Tár, The Room Next Door) deserves special mention, as do Charli XCX, producer Jack Antonoff, and FKA twigs, who contributed genuine bangers to the soundtrack. Hathaway credibly performs the songs during flashback sequences.
If you must choose a Hathaway fashion fantasy, make it Mother Mary. It is the warped companion piece to The Devil Wears Prada 2 and a perfect double-bill with Peter Strickland's In Fabric. In an industry dominated by sequels, prequels, and sanitised music biopics, this bold, extravagant fare will leave a mark—and haunt you, like a piece of shimmering red fabric.
For more on the cultural landscape, see our coverage of May in Europe: Devil Wears Prada 2, Melanie C, and Bird Art and ‘Devil Wears Prada 2’ Faces Asian Boycott Over Stereotypical Character.
