Movie Review: If I Had Legs I'd Kick You (2025)

Genre: Drama  

Director: Mary Bronstein  

Starring: Rose Byrne, Conan O'Brien, Christian Slater  

Running Time: 114 minutes  

Synopsis: Linda (Rose Byrne) is a therapist and the main caregiver for her young daughter, who suffers from an eating disorder. Her life gets more complicated when a gaping hole opens up in the ceiling of their apartment, forcing Linda to relocate to a cheap motel. With her husband (Christian Slater) always traveling, Linda's main support is her own therapist (Conan O'Brien), while the motel superintendent James (ASAP Rocky) tries to help. Just when the stresses of life appear to peak, one of Linda's therapy patients instigates another major crisis.

What Works Well: Writer and director Mary Bronstein explores the burden of motherhood and caregiving at an intimate, close-up, and exhausting level. With Rose Byrne finding a career peak, the camera stays close to Linda throughout, often neglecting others in the room, to probe deep into the psychology of navigating continuous, unrelenting, high stress levels. Lack of sleep, counterproductive attempts at help from others, and hostility from every source (her daughter's doctor, the hospital parking lot attendant, the motel receptionist) sap away her energy and ability to make sound decisions, and still the blows keep coming. 

What Does Not Work As Well: Linda does not help herself by escaping into substance use, and the spacey imagery emanating from the ceiling hole is carried to repetitive extremes. Despite a few moments of tenderness and humour, the overall dark-and-only-getting darker mood is overwhelmingly depressing.

Key Quote:

Linda (screaming at her therapist): I'm asking you what I'm supposed to do? Can you hear me?

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