Rose Byrne Delivers a Barnstorming Performance in Dark Comedy 'If I Had Legs I'd Kick You'
Rose Byrne gives a tremendous, barnstorming performance as Linda, a psychotherapist pushed to the edge by the overwhelming stress of parenting in Mary Bronstein's pitch-black horror-comedy If I Had Legs I'd Kick You. This psychological film explores postnatal depression and lonely parental anxiety, serving as a flip-side to classics like Eraserhead or Rosemary's Baby. Instead of supernatural horrors, the movie confronts the banal, terrifying problems of childcare and the lack of time to manage them.
A Therapist in Meltdown
Byrne's character Linda is a therapist whose husband is away, leaving her to care for a sick infant daughter. The child's face is not shown until the very end, symbolizing how her identity becomes a gigantic, blank, all-pervasive problem. The girl is intubated via a feeding machine that must be carted around, especially to a day-care hospital. There, a brusque doctor, played by writer-director Mary Bronstein in a cameo, supervises group therapy sessions that blandly reassure parents while curtly reprimanding Linda for missed appointments and her daughter's failure to gain weight.
Added Pressures and Dark Humour
Linda's deep depression is managed through weed, wine, and entirely unhelpful therapy sessions with her impatient colleague, played by Conan O'Brien, in a hilariously incestuous office arrangement. In these sessions, she behaves as much of a screwup as her own patients, even quietly confessing "I love you" at one point. To compound her struggles, her apartment is flooded through a gaping hole in the ceiling—about which she has Freudian visions—forcing her and her daughter into a scuzzy motel. The superintendent, James, portrayed by A$AP Rocky, emerges as the only person who seems to genuinely care about Linda.
Mounting Panic and Professionalised Empathy
Byrne's performance is terrific, capturing a mother and therapist who must appear to keep it together while losing it daily. The film delves into a world of professionalised empathy, where caregivers are eternally wary of giving too much or getting too close, fearing being overwhelmed by others' problems. Brutal comedy punctuates the narrative, such as the horror of a hamster being run over, followed by a hard cut to a closeup of takeout food. Bronstein brilliantly conveys mounting panic and an all-consuming sadness, with influences from producers like Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie, known for films like Uncut Gems and Marty Supreme, detectable in the sprint toward a nervous breakdown.
If I Had Legs I'd Kick You is set for release in UK and Irish cinemas from 20 February, offering a raw and compelling look at mental health and parental stress through a darkly comedic lens.
