World-famous pop icon Mother Mary (Anne Hathaway) becomes overwhelmed during a costume fitting. With only three days before her comeback performance after an onstage accident, Mother Mary flees to the English countryside to seek out her estranged friend and former collaborator, fashion designer Sam Anselm (Michaela Coel) and ask her to design her dress.

This psychological, surreal drama is one part two-hander and one part pop diva concert. Using the same team members one would use to produce a concert, including composers, choreographers, set and costume designers, Mother Mary floats effortlessly between the two worlds, showcasing her overlapping spheres of reality, spirituality and creativity.

Mother Mary and Sam have a long, festering feud from their early days of working together. While Mother Mary is the leading talent, Sam’s significant contribution to her costume, style and very identity is underappreciated. Still stinging from being cut out of Mother Mary’s personal and professional life, Sam is surprised to see her at her door. It soon becomes apparent that there is a tie that binds them, both figuratively and literally.

Taking inspiration from Beyoncé, Taylor Swift’s Reputation Stadium Tour and Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), the movie blends psychological horror in the flamboyant and glamorous world of pop like Perfect Blue (1997) and Smile 2 (2024). While the scenes between the two leads going head-to-head present as street theatre, the style ebbs and flows between the heightened concert and surreal scenes.

Verdict: A dazzling, slick metaphor about the importance of nurturing partnerships.

4 stars.

Luke McWilliams, themovieclub.net. Viewed at Palace Cinemas.