A pop star and a costume designer engage in a psychosexual affair in Director David Lowery’s psychological thriller, Mother Mary.

In Lowery’s film, iconic pop star Mother Mary reunites with her estranged best friend and former costume designer, Sam Anselm, after her need for a dress for her new tour draws them back together and long-buried wounds rise to the surface.

On April 12, after the DGA membership screening in New York, Lowery discussed the making of Mother Mary during a Q&A moderated by Director Antonio Campos (The Devil All the Time).

During the conversation, Lowery spoke about the challenges trying to go as deep as possible with his actors.

“You’re always like, ‘What am I going to lose because of this?’ You have to mentally prepare yourself, ‘If we are going to dig deeper there’s going to be a cost and I don’t know how big that cost will be. Maybe it’s a shot tomorrow, maybe it’s a scene next week.’ But you have to be prepared for that. I’m always of the opinion that whatever you’re shooting in that moment is the most important thing and if you do have to pay the consequences you can figure that out after you’ve wrapped. But when you’re in the moment and you’re with the actors and there’s a need to keep pushing further and digging deeper, it feels to me morally wrong to stop short of that.”

Lowery’s other directorial credits include the feature films Peter Pan & Wendy, The Green Knight, The Old Man & the Gun, A Ghost Story and Ain’t Them Bodies Saints; and episodes of Skeleton Crew, Strange Angel, Breakthrough and Rectify.

Lowery has been a DGA member since 2014.