If I Had Legs I'd Kick You

As a woman in my mid twenties recently diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, this film was deeply uncomfortable it irritated me, pulled me in, and wouldn't let go until the end.

It captures emptiness and distorted perception with unsettling precision. I saw myself in it and that recognition brought a mix of satisfaction, fear, disgust, and acceptance.

It's a complex, haunting portrayal of despair and chaos within a wounded or unstable mind.

A brilliant work. I'll never watch it again.

For the love of God, why is this movie categorized as a comedy?! It is a dark psychological drama, period. Not a dark comedy, not a thriller.

Rose Byrne delivers an amazing acting performance, but don't see this movie because you thought she was funny in Bridesmaids. You will be sorely disappointed.

Damn. A mother whose daughter has some mysterious illness when her husband is not present and her home gets a big hole in her ceiling. That's the plot of this movie where a mother has to live her life and balance between being a professional therapist while she does her own therapy.

A downpour of troubles falls on her when we get to see her life. She has to be a mother, stay in a not-so-nice hotel, with troubling neighbor, her own patient having panic episodes and what not.

The entire movie is kind of a horror in its own way. How a simple mother facing all this on a day to day basis and needs to cope up. She is at the brink of explosion mentally.

I kid you not when I say this is a psychological horror film. No, seriously.. it is. I don't think many films capture the flip side of motherhood with intricate detail, but Mary Bronstein's second directorial effort definitely does. It's everything that could possibly go wrong when you're a working mother with a husband who works at sea (..means being away for a reasonable amount of time). To make matters worse, the aforementioned "working mother" is a therapist (..I will NEVER understand how therapists lead normal lives.. well, what is NORMAL anymore, anyway?). She has to deal with clingy patients, an occasionally stiff supervisor (who she takes therapy from), a sick child (her own), a missing mother (her patient), a large hole in her house, an annoying parking manager, etctera.. the list is overbearing, and unbelievable I might add.

Rose Byrne plays the protagonist Linda -- I don't have words. It's a knockout performance no doubt, and one that's going to fetch plenty of accolades. You know, the film is set in Montauk (a little beach time) and I'm someone who's fond of the beach milieu in storytelling. But goodness me, I wasn't prepared for what the beach would bring in this movie. It even ends with the noise of the high tide -- something I usually find calming (amidst the chaos of life), but after what I bore witness to for 1h 50m, I just couldn't listen to it anymore. It didn't give me PEACE.. it gave me a PUNCH in the GUT. Wow, what a time to be alive.. and to be a PARENT.

There are some really good supporting acts here too. Check out the cast for some (likely and) unlikely names. Mary Bronstein's film also adds a bit of magical realism, and it also cleverly keeps Linda's daughter's face out of focus even when she's a constant presence. One can also sense some allegorical perspectives, what with the mom who abandons her baby, almost immediately reflective of Linda's own dismantling inner psyche. Her mind's turbulent like the ocean outdoors, she's often labeled an incompetent mother (which all mothers obviously would hate), and there's no semblance of a pause in her life. That's what felt the most AFFECTING. There are writing issues, but Byrne killed it.. absolutely killed it.

Stunning and deeply disturbing in the best way-Rose Byrne gives a career-best performance as Linda, a therapist/mother whose life collapses under her daughter's illness and endless pressure. You feel every ounce of her frustration, exhaustion, and rage; the way she lashes out at everyone (husband, doctors, even her own therapist) is painfully real. Beautifully made, psychologically intense, and so raw it almost hurts to watch. Only downsides: the dream-vs-reality blur can be confusing, and it's definitely not for everyone-mostly hits home for women (or people close to women) who've felt this kind of overwhelming burden. Still, an easy 9/10 for me.