»There is an abyss between the mother and the child.« Julia Kristeva

Linda (Rose Byrne), mother and therapist, drifts through a feverish spiral of exhaustion, guilt and absurd obligations. Her husband (Christian Slater), a »captain at sea«, exists mostly as a disembodied voice on the phone; her chronically ill daughter is largely offscreen, reduced to body fragments and a relentlessly demanding register scratching at Linda’s psyche. Every attempt to do the right thing fails. Byrne – Golden Globe and Berlinale winner, Oscar-nominated for this role – carries the film with ferocious physical precision, her face and gestures registering strain before language ever can. Bronstein, herself actor, mother, screenwriter and author of feminist theory, shapes a hallucinatory »mother-on-the-verge« horror, where care becomes compulsion and love shades into self-erasure. With jittery camerawork, fragmented montage and unrelenting rhythm, motherhood becomes something both deeply familiar and alien: a bond so consuming it borders on madness. Surreal set pieces – a floating ceiling hole, Montauk’s foggy coastline, a wayward hamster – tilt reality into the uncanny. Balancing tragedy and dark humour, the film probes the grey zone between care, devotion and self-sacrifice – intensely personal yet universally resonant. Motherhood here is merciless, punishing, relentless, yet (com)passionate in its potential.

Awards for »If I Had Legs I’d Kick You«
Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance for Rose Byrne – Berlinale 2025, Golden Globe for Rose Byrne – Best Actress 2025

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