From ‘Michael’ to ‘Mother Mary’: New movies to see or skip in May 2026

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — A Michael Jackson biopic, two Anne Hathaway vehicles and an Australian serial killer thriller are our movies to see, stream or skip this May. Find out which is which below.

You should see…

“MOTHER MARY” (2026, 112 min., directed by David Lowery)

Creative partners share a very special kind of relationship. The personal nature of artistic creation necessitates the ability to operate simpatico. Creative collaborators share an instinct, a vision and, sometimes, a language. For the two artists, outside understanding is irrelevant. When it comes to their work, the strength of their bond and the clarity of their communication are the only things that matter, outside observers be damned.

At least, that’s what “Mother Mary” offers up in an ephemeral, impressionistic portrait of a pop star and her stylist.

David Lowery’s musical fantasia is a movie fated to be divisive. Its script leans on elongated metaphor and abstracted emotion, with dialogue that could be called “heightened” by the generous and “pretentious” by the unswayed. The performances are theatrical and melodramatic, and the plot is oddly low-stakes, at least at first glance. Styled in halo and named for the religious figure, “Mother Mary” forces you to hear its teachings or else be banished from the temple.

I, for one, am a believer.

Anne Hathaway, the titular Mary, and Michaela Coel as her estranged costumer, Sam, perform a beautiful treatise on what happens after an artistic relationship is tested. At the outset of the film, Mary have impulsively arrived at Sam’s studio after years without contact. Ostensibly, she needs a dress, and knows Sam is the only one who can make it for her. Really, she needs her partner, and knows that her art has suffered without her. In response, Sam feigns chilliness while doling out small admissions of the hurt she felt when Mary left her behind. “Mother Mary” is a sumptuously shot chamber piece, largely confined to a single conversation.

If that conversation doesn’t land for you, it might also feel like the dullest sermon you’ve ever endured.

To us, the audience, the way that Sam and Mary speak to each other may sound obnoxious and overblown, but Lowery never blinks. This is the language of these artistic partners, and neither they nor their screenwriter are ashamed of it. What we are meant to understand is not what they say, but why they say it. For all of the hoity-toity hullabaloo Mary and Sam espouse, their emotions are crystal clear.

Compare the film to a pop song. On first listen, some Top 40 hits – especially in the lyrics department – sound corny and grating. “Mother Mary” reflects that experience. But then, over time, the songs grow on you, until you not only know every word, but feel compelled to sing along. Such is the case here. What starts as a hostile piece of pomposity reveals itself as an earnest exploration of the artistically brokenhearted. It’s hard to watch it and not feel something.

By the time the credits rolled at my screening, “Mother Mary” was more than a pop song: it had become an earworm. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since.

Rating: 4/5

“Mother Mary” is now playing in theaters nationwide.

“THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2” (2026, 120 min., directed by David Frankel)

They say the devil’s in the details, but the details are precisely where “The Devil Wears Prada 2” shines. The sequel to the iconic fashion flick is cinematic haute couture, making for a meticulous, marvelous return to the offices of Miranda Priestly. Unlike other legacy sequels and nostalgia-bait retreads, “Prada 2” earns its strut down the runway.

For a film about high fashion, “Prada 2” feels a lot like slipping on a cozy old (cerulean) sweater. The original “Prada” hit theaters 20 years ago and was instantly canonized into the pop culture matrix. Starring Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt in her breakout role, “Prada” also gave us the soft-spoken, perfectly-coiffed and deliciously mean Miranda, played by Meryl Streep in an Oscar-nominated performance. All four are back for the new movie, returning to their iconic parts as though no time has gone by at all. “Prada 2” features plenty of winks and nods to the original for die-hard fans, as well as trademark things that make the first such a blast: montages of incredible outfits, cameos from fashion luminaries and witty, withering Streep one-liners. It’s fun and familiar.

Best of all, however, it has something to say.

The first movie is a fantastic workplace drama, but exists in a very different world than today. Fashion magazines are nowhere near the titans they once were, and neither is hard journalism, the chosen career of Hathaway’s character, Andy. When Andy and Miranda are reunited in the sequel, they must rely on each other to survive the destruction of their individual industries. As frothy and feel-good as the film can be, it is also a reflection of the real world in compelling, intelligent ways. AI, corporate takeovers, workplace harassment, toxic beauty standards and social media are all the real devils in “Prada 2.”

“Prada 2” is not without its blemishes – why are we still tacking on an unnecessary love life for Andy, David Frankel? – but as legacy sequels go, it is a cinematic supermodel. That’s all.

Rating: 4.5/5

“The Devil Wears Prada 2” is now playing in theaters nationwide.

You should stream…

“APEX” (2026, 96 min., directed by Baltasar Kormákur)

“Apex,” a new Aussie survival thriller starring Charlize Theron and Taron Egerton, is a rip-roaring trip down a familiar river.

Theron stars as Sasha, an adrenaline-seeking adventurer mourning the recent death of her husband, who perishes in a cliff-side avalanche accident at the outside of the film. Some months after his demise, Sasha has journeyed to Australia, where she embarks on a kayaking trip through a state park. Unfortunately for Sasha, any plans to grieve in peace are derailed by Ben, a maniacal, sadistic hunter played with hilarious élan by Egerton. As he stalks her through the woods, she must use all of her outdoor adventure skills to evade him.

Even without the serial killer element, “Apex” is a handsomely mounted movie. The outdoor action is kinetic, credible and gorgeous to look at, with a grizzled Theron navigating whitewater rapids and scaling mossy caves like a pro. Even when there was CG involved, you would be hard-pressed to spot it. “Apex” is cast in the lineage of films like “Deliverance” and “Point Break.”

Without the killer, however, you would be deprived of a truly terrific villain turn from Egerton. Ben is a very silly character, but the charming menace Egerton brings to his over-the-top performance makes up for a lot of the ludicrous swerves in the plot. The actor is chewing scenery with razor-sharp teeth.

For those hunting for a new killer thriller, “Apex” is well worth wading into.

Rating: 3.5/5

“Apex” is now streaming on Netflix.

You can skip…

“MICHAEL” (2026, 127 min., directed by Antoine Fuqua)

Michael Jackson was an extraordinarily complex person, as titanic in his artistry as he was infamous in his celebrity. “Michael,” meanwhile, is cartoonishly simplistic. Antoine Fuqua’s biopic of the King of Pop is a string of recreated music videos – despite Jaafar Jackson’s committed physical performance as his uncle, the singing is left to the man himself – with a sorry excuse at a narrative squeezed between them. The emotions and ideas of the film have all the nuance of an afterschool special.

Really, there are only two parts of Jackson’s life “Michael” approaches with exploratory intent. First, his journey with cosmetic surgery, and second, his strained relationship with his father, Joe Jackson, played with slick menace by Colman Domingo. Both are – forgive me – on the nose. Jackson’s paternal trauma is relegated to a hackneyed yearning for creative independence and his body dysmorphia reduced to an obsession with a Peter Pan picture book. The film moonwalks around getting any deeper than that. Want to learn something about Michael Jackson’s inner life? Beat it, ’cause you won’t find it here.

There has been a lot of reporting around the legal censorship of Fuqua’s first cut of “Michael.” Perhaps the unsullied version of the film was something braver, bolder and more befitting of an American icon. As it is, “Michael” is glitzy, empty gloop. It’s “Bad.”

Rating: 2/5

“Michael” is now playing in theaters nationwide.