Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel’s Mother Mary is a dark, pop‑music-fuelled A24 drama about a troubled superstar and the designer who helped build her image, blending psychological melodrama, queer desire and hints of something occult into one glamorous, unsettling package. Slated for spring 2026, it’s also the first of a packed slate that will see Hathaway headline four major releases in the same year.
Hathaway’s bold new A24 swing
Anne Hathaway is stepping into full‑blown pop‑icon mode with Mother Mary, a new A24 “epic pop melodrama” from The Green Knight director David Lowery. Set for a spring 2026 theatrical release, the film casts her as an almost mythic superstar preparing for a high‑stakes comeback performance while wrestling with fame, faith, desire and the cost of reinvention. The official trailer teases pulsing concert visuals, cult‑like rituals and a fraught reunion with her former best friend and costume designer, played by Emmy winner Michaela Coel, framing their relationship as the emotional and erotic core of the story. With original songs by Jack Antonoff, Charli XCX and FKA twigs, Mother Mary positions Hathaway at the centre of a stylish, unsettling music‑driven drama that already looks primed to be one of 2026’s most talked‑about releases.
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What Is ‘Mother Mary’ About?
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Mother Mary follows a fictional global pop star, Mary, whose carefully manufactured persona begins to crack as she faces an existential crisis mid‑tour. She abruptly steps away from the road and reaches out to Sam Anselm, the estranged best friend and fashion designer who once crafted her signature looks, pulling Sam back into a world of fame, obsession and unresolved betrayal.
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Cast, Crew, Music and Release Details
David Lowery writes and directs, continuing his collaboration with A24 after visually ambitious films like The Green Knight and A Ghost Story, which hints at similarly bold, stylised storytelling here. Anne Hathaway leads as Mother Mary, with Michaela Coel co‑starring as Sam Anselm, the designer whose relationship with the star anchors the narrative. The ensemble also features Hunter Schafer, Sian Clifford, Alba Baptista, Jessica Brown Findlay, Kaia Gerber, Isaura Barbé‑Brown, Atheena Frizzell and FKA twigs, who appears both on screen and on the soundtrack. A24 confirms that original songs come from Jack Antonoff and Charli XCX alongside twigs’ contributions, with Daniel Hart composing the score, signalling a major pop‑culture‑ready soundtrack drop around release. The film is set to arrive in cinemas in spring 2026, with several outlets specifying an April window as A24 positions it as a key title in its slate.
Anne Hathaway’s Packed 2026 Slate:
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Mother Mary is the first of at least four confirmed Anne Hathaway releases in 2026, showing how strongly she is leaning into a mix of sequels, prestige films and genre swings.
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After its spring release, she moves straight into The Devil Wears Prada 2, expected on May 1, 2026. She returns as Andy Sachs alongside Meryl Streep, picking up the fashion-world satire that helped launch her global career.
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In July 2026, she reunites with Christopher Nolan for The Odyssey, dated around July 17. It’s a large-scale reimagining of the classic myth with several past Nolan collaborators in the cast.
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Mid-August 2026 brings Flowervale Street, a secretive genre project that pairs her with Ewan McGregor.
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She closes the year with Verity in October, a thriller based on Colleen Hoover’s novel, where she plays writer Verity Crawford.
Trailer highlights, buzz and what else we know?
The Mother Mary trailer leans heavily on mood: slow‑motion concert shots, close‑ups of Hathaway in elaborate couture, and charged, silent looks between Mary and Sam set against choral‑style vocals and pulsing synths. Critics and pop‑culture sites have already picked up on “culty” imagery, suggesting that Mary’s fandom and inner circle may function like a quasi‑religious group, with sacrifice and communion referenced in on‑screen taglines.
