Anne Hathaway stands by her box-office flop Serenity

Anne Hathaway's new film Serenity is already being called the worst movie of 2019 by critics, and it is only February.

With terrible reviews and a 21 per cent Rotten Tomatoes score, it opened with only US$4.4 million (S$6 million) on more than 2,000 screens in North America and can officially be deemed a flop.

Obviously, when we had our interview with Hathaway, 36, at the Ritz-Carlton in the Los Angeles County seaside community of Marina del Rey before its Jan 25 release date, no one knew about the poor critical and commercial reception to come.

Except, maybe, the film company and independent distributor, Aviron Pictures, which the film-makers are blaming for not spending enough on promoting and marketing Serenity. They probably had a clue.

First of all, one of the trailers indicated the neo-noir thriller was to be released last fall. Instead, it ended up in the dumping ground of January, where bad movies usually land. It also touts its cast of Oscar winners Hathaway and Matthew McConaughey, and Oscar nominees Diane Lane and Djimon Hounsou, which makes you wonder what they were thinking.

Hathaway went on to defend her project on Instagram, saying: "There is no failure, only learnt events, not everyone has to like everything, and the critical response doesn't change my feelings about the movie."

At our interview last month, the US actress explained why she chose to sign up for it.

"I really love going deep into movies that aren't totally clear on the surface and aren't easily sold, that have a mystery and might not be to everybody's taste. It is one of the things that I love about this movie, is that you have to use your brain.

"I also found it to be a physical experience, and I was on the edge of my seat. I found myself just affected by certain scenes physically," she said.

Opening here tomorrow and directed by English screenwriter Steven Knight, McConaughey plays an army veteran who takes tourists out on his fishing boat named Serenity for a living.

Enter his glamorous former wife (Hathaway) and their son, and she makes him an offer he does not refuse - US$10 million to take her abusive current husband (Jason Clarke) out to sea and throw him overboard.

The spousal abuse plot point resonated with Hathaway.

She said: "I was so honoured to be trusted with this character. I thought it was really cool that Steven wanted to show the full extent of the rage, pain and suffering of the woman who, in the past, we would say was the no-good dangerous woman.

"And that is just not an acceptable way to view another human being, particularly when it turns out that she is someone dealing with something that no one should have to deal with and she is dealing with it on her own. There is nothing she wouldn't do for her child. She is not helpless in her state, but she does need help."

Serenity was shot before the #MeToo movement, "before we all collectively looked at the world and specifically, the way we were treating women in it", Hathaway added.

"It was before there was this added consciousness on sets for how to do things responsibly. And there was not one thing that I could have asked from those men. They were gentlemen and we were all professionals together, and we all knew why we were there - to tell a story - and we were partners in it.

"I think it is sad to say I feel lucky because of that, because that should be the industry standard."

LEOPARD PRINT

Her tendency to make controversial choices goes beyond her movie roles. At last month's Golden Globe Awards, Hathaway's leopard print Elie Saab gown did not go down well with many fashion critics.

"I have never had a full-length leopard print ball gown cross my path. I thought it would be a fun reference for drag queens, I am serious," she said with a laugh.

"The back-up choice was beautiful but it was safe. The Golden Globes is the place to have fun and take a risk."

Serenity - the feeling, not the movie - for Hathaway is to be with husband Adam Shulman, a jewellery designer-actor-producer, and their two-year-old son.

"I am really simple. Whenever I am with them, wherever we are, I am so happy. Within our relationship, I am the one who leaves the home to work.

"My husband does too, but I do it more. And so I don't take these moments for granted. If I had to give you a specific place, just being in the kitchen cooking for everybody," she said.

But Hathaway does not care for celebrating occasions like Valentine's Day, which she finds "pretty unromantic".

"I don't think a day that lets you off the hook 364 days out of the year is any damn good."

She said: "I am married to an incredible guy who makes me feel beautiful, desirable and valued, every day of our marriage.

"I like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Halloween - these are the holidays that get me.

"I am more the type of person who wants to see a horror movie on Valentine's Day. I like to cut against the grain."

The writer is the president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a non-profit organisation of entertainment journalists that also organises the annual Golden Globe Awards.