With ‘Mother Mary’ as Hollywood’s Latest Implausible Pop Star, Why Does Every Fictional Music Movie Have to Feel So Phony?
Home Music Columns Apr 25, 2026 5:30pm PT With ‘Mother Mary’ as Hollywood’s Latest Implausible Pop Star, Why Does Every Fictional Music Movie Have to Feel So Phony? By Chris Willman Mark Harris for Variety Why is it that nearly every fictional movie that is about music, or set in a musical milieu, has to feel as phony as a $2 resale ticket? Biopics like “Michael,” “Back to Black” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” are their own unbelievable animals. But I’m talking about the wave of promising-sounding, mostly cringe-inducing dramas like “Mother Mary” (going into wide release this weekend) that give us fictionalized superstars who don’t come within 12 bars of passing the credibility test … not even when they’re played by actual pop superstars like the Weeknd and Charli xcx. Related Stories 'The Chi' Sets Final Season Release Date at Paramount+المصدر: Variety Entertainment | Source: Variety Entertainment
ملاحظة تحريرية | Editorial Note: نُشر هذا المقال في الأصل بواسطة Variety Entertainment. خبر (Khabr) هي منصة إعلامية أردنية مرخّصة تعمل بالذكاء الاصطناعي. نضيف قيمة تحريرية من خلال: تحليل ذكي للأخبار، ملخصات تلقائية، رواية صوتية بالذكاء الاصطناعي، ترجمة متعددة اللغات، وتدقيق الحقائق. هدفنا جعل الأخبار أكثر وضوحاً وسهولةً للقارئ العربي.
This article was originally published by Variety Entertainment. Khabr is a licensed Jordanian AI-powered news platform (Registration #82086). We add editorial value through: AI-powered news analysis, automated summaries, AI audio narration, multi-language translation (Arabic, English, French, Turkish), and AI fact-checking. Our mission is to make news more accessible and understandable for Arabic-speaking audiences worldwide.
