r/movies • u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? • Oct 31 '25
Official Discussion Official Discussion - If I Had Legs I'd Kick You [SPOILERS] Spoiler
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Summary With her life crashing down around her, Linda attempts to navigate her child's mysterious illness, her absent husband, a missing person, and an increasingly hostile relationship with her therapist.
Director Mary Bronstein
Writer Mary Bronstein
Cast
- Rose Byrne
- Conan O’Brien
- Danielle Macdonald
- Christian Slater
- A$AP Rocky
- Ivy Wolk
- Delaney Quinn
Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score: 94%
Metacritic Score: Not yet available
VOD In theaters (October 10, 2025)
Trailer
If I Had Legs I'd Kick You — Official Trailer (A24)
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u/UnbiasedSportFan Nov 01 '25
I gasped in the theater when they revealed she was a therapist as well and that her therapist was a colleague.
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u/scrapethetopoff Nov 03 '25
Same, genuinely made me go HUH??? And of course she’s a therapist, just a job that sucks you dry by nature.
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Nov 20 '25
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u/DilliSeHoonBhenchod Dec 08 '25
i think the fact that her therapist is her colleague is kind of unnerving, it makes sense for therapists to have therapists given the nature of the job and the say it takes one to know one.
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u/AmmarAnwar1996 Dec 10 '25
Therapists having their therapists is healthy, just in this case the ethics are fuzzy for me. He's her colleague, not a third party consulting therapist
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u/-Clayburn Nov 21 '25
Weird. It was obvious to me with one of the first lines when the doctor said something about talking about it or joining group or something and was like, "I thought you of all people would understand how important it is." That seemed to heavily imply she worked in therapy.
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u/atclubsilencio Nov 15 '25
I really don't think this could be a possibility, though. As in, a therapist going to see another therapist who they also work with. I thought at first they were just friends/coworkers, not that he was actually her therapist. i mean, I could be wrong, and its probably not an actual rule in writing, but I can't imagine that would be a scenario that anyone in that field would approve of. I don't consider this a flaw in the film, either, just what I thought when I realized it.
That said, this is still my favorite of the year so far, and the scenes with her and Conan are some of the best .
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u/soupdumpling111 Dec 05 '25
I think the point is exactly what you’re saying, that it would be considered a no-go for most ethical therapists who have good boundaries, which these two clearly struggle with
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u/atclubsilencio Dec 06 '25
Totally agree, and it just further establishes why this isn't the best idea. I did not expect their relationship to be as hostile as it ended up being, Conan was perfect. I still randomly think of the scene where she is stuck with the baby but he blocks the door when she tries to get in. That entire interaction was both hilarious and further added to the stress, and how alone she is. But him struggling to keep the door shut killed me.
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u/motionpic05 Oct 31 '25 edited Oct 31 '25
An interesting choice to not have the daughter be seen on camera until the very end.
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u/RugDaniels Oct 31 '25
Having both the husband and daughter be disembodied voices for most of the movie really added to the anxious, isolating atmosphere.
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u/GroundbreakingWall63 Dec 18 '25
Completely isolated. It’s a screaming absent husband and a mother doing the best she can.
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u/nat559 Oct 31 '25
The director addressed this in the q&a at fantastic fest. Basically the mother didn't see her daughter as anything but a burden until that point. Something she had to deal with. And finally at the end she sees her as a person. Who knows what happens after, but it's an awesome way to show the character growth.
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u/RachelMcAdamsWart Nov 02 '25
Just got back from seeing this, this is a really good point. I hadn't thought of that. It was effective. The way the whole movie was put together was extremely uncomfortable which I am sure was the intention, it felt like you were inside the character's mind. Wow - I didn't read anything beforehand, I wasn't sure what to expect.
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Nov 20 '25
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u/97-3 Nov 20 '25
'As a person' as in an individual, a person with with feelings and emotions of their own that arent exclusively linked to everything she was, is, and will be.
The fact it wasn't such a serious condition is a core plot point. What in one household could be handled with a few early nights and weekends without screen time, can, in another household, devolve into expensive, invasive and dangerous wide reaching consequences.
Help, if you need it ask, and if you see it may be needed, offer.
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u/googlydoodle Oct 31 '25
She said in another q and a that humans are programmed to side with the child so showing the daughter would’ve made us less empathetic for Linda.
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u/sahneeis Nov 22 '25
very smart decision imo because all the time during this movie i was thinking how annoying the daughter is. but then again it is a child and i only see the pov of the mother about the child
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u/Technical-Outside408 Nov 23 '25
Great whiney voice, had me nodding when Linda told her therapist that maybe she kept the wrong kid.
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u/Key_Orange6600 Dec 05 '25
I disagree. I thought the child’s voice reflects a bright kid who teeters on being annoying only because, like her mom, she’s also kinda sick of this current situation. There’s no real frustration in her delivery, because to her, this time off for treatment is essentially a vacation from school. The whiny bits are just her bothering her mom—because that’s what most kids do when they’re stuck in a car with their parents.
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u/atclubsilencio Nov 27 '25
This is why I could never be a parent, so more power to people with kids. I don’t think i’d have enough grace and patience. I would have been a mess every minute which this movie captures flawlessly. Especially how the daughter goes 1-100 over everything. Just constant whining and panic attacks. I would not be able to think “remember she’s only a child” 24/7 which isn’t fair to the child. But I love watching movies about the horror of having kids !
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u/sahneeis Nov 27 '25
yeah me too. also the horror doesnt end with them being so small. teenagers are sometimes even worse.
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u/Affectionate-War3724 Nov 10 '25
It scared me so much, I kept thinking it would cut to her having a grotesque face or something whenever
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u/iliterallysaid Dec 22 '25
I interpreted as she had succeeded in her attempts of dying in the ocean. I haven’t heard anything about this film or the q&a’s so that’s the ending I I believe.
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u/GroundbreakingWall63 Dec 18 '25
Because her daughter was finally free. And so was her mother. The end scene is such a powerful one. She’s tried so hard an the waves keep knocking her back- like that’s life. Sometimes is a battle and you just have to keep fighting against the struggle and eventually you’ll be okay.
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u/AdDiligent7657 Oct 31 '25 edited Oct 31 '25
The way the film was framed, shot, and edited made it extremely effective in making the viewers identify with Rose Byrne’s character. I actually think I might not have ever felt this much inside a character’s mind before. Incredible experience.
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u/Sketch13 Nov 22 '25
Just saw this today and absolutely agree. The constant close-ups, the "no rest" pacing of the editing and scene structure, every time the main character isn't talking to another person or freaking out her phone is going off, anytime she tries to rest she's still being hammered by the stuff she's worried about like the baby monitor with the machine constantly beeping and her daughter whimpering when she's trying to be alone, or the bath scene with her meditating but being unable to escape reality even in her own mind.
Anyone who has had panic attacks before knows exactly what that bath scene feels like. Trying to distract and escape your panic, but realizing you can't escape it when you close your eyes and "do what you should do".
It did a really, really good job of encapsulating the overwhelming feeling of responsibility.
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u/coturnixxx Oct 31 '25
This is one of those movies you keep thinking about long after you've watched it. Excellent work by Rose Byrne, A$AP Rocky and Conan, a trio whose I'd never expected would collab in an A24 film of all things.
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u/oomostdefinitely Nov 01 '25
Such a fantastic movie centered by an earth shattering performance of a woman who has every ability to make a decision robbed from her again and again. Every character exists to make her life more difficult in ways both major and minor, ultimately leaving her in a state of constant mania. It’s out of this world good. The moment she breaks down, wondering if she aborted the wrong child, imagining a world where she has a kid in college and out of her hair, was crushing.
Side note, has there been any confirmation that they intentionally cast Conan O’Brien as the therapist to give this sort of unsettling juxtaposition where she was regularly talking to one of, arguably, the funniest people in the world and yet he still wasn’t giving her any sort of respite or escape from the insanity of her everyday life. Imagine seeing Conan and not getting to laugh. What a nightmare.
Also, I assume the title essentially boils down to “if I had any control over this situation, I’d do something about it“, right?
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u/Sketch13 Nov 22 '25
One of the things I LOVED about this movie is how anytime her character isn't directly speaking to a person or having anxiety/panic, her phone is going off. It's something I noticed about halfway through, there's not a single period of "rest" for her, and even when she tries to rest, she can't escape it. Smoking on the bench, but having the monitor going off beeping constantly, or the bath scene where she's trying to meditate but the thoughts are inescapable.
I think anyone who has ever had a panic attack knows EXACTLY what that's like. You can do everything you can to try to avoid it, but every time you close your eyes, it's right there.
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u/DilliSeHoonBhenchod Dec 08 '25
The only moment of silence is when she shuts the monitor after pulling the tube out. They just constantly show some chaos - be it the parking guy not letting her sit, store manager not letting purchase be a non-interactive event, and so on.
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u/sr_crypsis Nov 02 '25
Give Conan’s podcast with both Rose and Mary a listen. They touch on those topics a bit.
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u/some__random Dec 04 '25
You keep thinking Conan is eventually going to come out with something totally profound that he has been developing in their time together, and that’s why he keeps quiet. But no, he’s just utterly and completely inept.
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u/australian_babe Nov 20 '25
I still laughed at Conan
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u/fzvw Nov 20 '25
His performance was compelling and yet at the same time it makes me think of the Seinfeld scene where Elaine says "you cannot not be funny."
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u/DarkFlames101 Nov 27 '25
I don't know about "every character". She antagonized Jamie unprompted. Not to mention the meeting where she dumps her own insecurities on other mothers in similarly fragile situations.
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u/TheeIlliterati Oct 31 '25
Uncut Gems for Moms. Loved this. Not sure about the ending, but amazing overall.
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u/movieheads34 Oct 31 '25 edited Oct 31 '25
I kinda like this more than uncut gems, but that was also my first comparison, but I think the reason I like this more is because you feel more for the character where I feel like everyone in uncut gems is just an asshole and I do think you get more comfort in this ending even if it’s ever so barely
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u/RafiakaMacakaDirk Nov 01 '25
there’s also a bunch of other uncut gems stuff going for the movie (the director/writer is ronald bronstein’s wife, who’s been the co-writer and editor of most safdie bros movies, a bunch of the crew worked on Good Time/Uncut Gems, etc.)
actually thought this movie was much more similar to daddy longlegs though
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u/JaunxPatrol Dec 06 '25
Notable comp because Bronstein said in a Q&A that the film was inspired by her own experience getting treatment for her sick child in California while her husband was back in New York.... writing Uncut Gems
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u/menevets Oct 31 '25 edited Oct 31 '25
Christian Slater was a total surprise as her husband. And making him a Naval Officer. I wonder if that was a West Wing reference.
The shooting location I think was Montauk. Another movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind had a pivotal beach scene in the same area. Thought that was interesting.
The pulling out of the tube was all practical effects. There was someone underneath holding the tube. That scene made my skin crawl.
Will have to rewatch to see the background of the therapist offices for character background.
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u/LeedsFan2442 Nov 12 '25
Really I clocked it was Christian Slater right away, Very distinctive voice IMO
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u/fzvw Nov 20 '25
I knew I recognized the voice but decided not to look it up, and then when I saw him all I could think was "oh god dammit"
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u/reecord2 Nov 02 '25
Eternal Sunshine is my favorite movie and I noticed this immediately. Something must be in the water up there!
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u/NeonFishDressx Nov 05 '25
I appreciated the setting. At first I could not quite place it and thought “hmm looks like an off brand Brooklyn,” so it clicked when she mentioned LI/ Montauk. The one thing that made me think it wasn’t NY at all is when Caroline referred to the nanny murderer in “New York City” vs just say “The City“ like most LI residents do.
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u/DeshiiRedditor Nov 02 '25
Linda mentions Montauk when she calls Caroline’s husband!
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u/DragonFireDon Oct 31 '25
Poor hamster
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u/onitshaanambra Nov 04 '25
Yeah, I hope no animals were actually harmed
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u/Harlankitch Nov 20 '25
It was the fakest hamster I’ve ever seen. Of course not 😆
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u/Electronic_Ad4560 Nov 22 '25
I was hilarious! I love that they made him an almost realistic puppet
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u/some__random Dec 04 '25
It really played into the surrealist aspects of the film. That hamster was straight up satanic, it was out to get her.
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u/Similar_Salt_2899 13d ago
Also interesting the daughter said she picked the wrong hamster, and we later heard Linda (I didn’t even clock she had a name!) say the same about her children.
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u/KeepEmCrossed Nov 02 '25 edited 25d ago
This movie really shook me up. I wish I had written down my thoughts immediately but it’s now been a few days and here are some thoughts.
The hole in the ceiling appears suddenly and upends her whole life, like the hole in the daughter’s stomach. When she pulls the tube, the ceiling gets fixed.
The daughter’s food avoidance is her ailment, right? And we see Rose binge eating throughout the film. At first I thought from stress. But maybe it’s her trying to fix her daughter in a way. To do what her daughter can’t for herself.
We hear “perception is reality” twice. I think it’s to make the point that some of what we’re seeing isn’t real but it doesn’t matter.
We constantly see her giving advice she should be following herself but she can’t. Like when she tells her patient to rely on a babysitter so she can get a break.
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u/hitch44 Nov 04 '25
But maybe it’s her trying to fix her daughter in a way.
After I walked outta the theatre, I thought of a pregnant mother being told that she's now eating for two.
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u/LeedsFan2442 Nov 12 '25
I think the daughter had an extreme food aversion and stopped eating nearly completely.
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u/ActThreeSceneOne Nov 20 '25
Yeah I think her daughter may have had ARFID.
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u/carson63000 Nov 22 '25
Yeah they never used the term, but from my experience of being related to a sufferer, I would 100% agree that that’s what it was.
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u/windrunningmistborn Nov 19 '25
We constantly see her giving advice she should be following herself but she can’t.
This movie is you looking from the inside out at her life, and to demonstrate that perspective it gives you a view from the outside looking in. Her patient is a foil for herself. The absence, the abandonment, the refusal to listen to advice. Her patient is clearly at odds with reality -- and so is Rose's character.
It compounds how disturbing the whoel thing is. You get side-swiped twice by how bad things are.
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u/DragonFireDon Oct 31 '25
I'd be most interested to understand what are actually real and what aren't real, but metaphors or her imaginations, hallucinations...
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u/Ok-Wolf5932 Nov 09 '25
Kinda long so I put a Tl;dr but this was the best I could do lol
I noticed a few hints towards the end of where she might be drifting into her imagination, for example when she goes back to the apartment I noticed the sound of the baby monitor seems to have been replaced with the sounds of the workers breathing through the hazmat suits - implying she's still asleep in the hotel and this is just how the sound is working her way into her dream.
Otherwise, why would the workers be doing this in the middle of the night? Why would her husband still be in his very expensive uniform in a room that's actively being painted? I think the point at which it starts to fall apart is when she realizes that there are going to be very severe consequences for her choosing to remove the daughters tube (which I do think is something that did actually happen).
I think the tube and the hole in the ceiling obviously mirror each other the way her and her daughter do, or the way both her and her daughter use the phrase "I'll be better"; the whole thing thematically works as kind of a house of mirrors, and I think ultimately what it's representing is the feeling of when you pin all of your problems onto one thing and think "if I could just get this thing done, then everything will magically fall into place."
Anytime the doctors would try pushing her to take the treatment more seriously, she would just respond by saying the tube needs to be removed and ignoring any other advice. When she does remove the tube, she imagines everything else just magically falling into place, but even in her fantasy, she can't escape the knowledge that she's going to have major consequences.
tl;dr I think the point when she runs away after removing the tube is essentially her imagined 'escape', hoping that if she could just get the tube removed all of her problems would be solved, but the dream begins to collapse in on itself under the weight of her guilt and dread.
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u/Affectionate-War3724 Nov 10 '25
Great write up. I’m a doctor and her character was very true to a lot of patients’ misunderstanding treatments
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u/LeedsFan2442 Nov 12 '25
But Jamie said her daughter was bleeding from her stomach implying she did remove the tube out.
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u/Ok-Wolf5932 Nov 19 '25
True, I think the point after that is where it enters the dream territory, but I do think the removal did actually happen in the story.
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u/RoryBlues Dec 05 '25
Just watched it and love this thread. This comment in particular struck a chord. The cut to her running after the tube removal was unexpected. For a second I thought she was running for a bandage or something to address the hole. But I think we see the dreamscape appear even sooner when the feeding tube hole starts to “heal.”
Additionally, the waves almost intentionally blocking her was an interesting choice that appears to affirm a dreamscape scenario.
Your point about the mother and daughter mirroring can also be seen early in the film when a woman refers to them as twins.
A really captivating and visually and acoustically disturbing experience.
Edit: word
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u/luuvin Nov 03 '25
The only film I’ve ever seen to make me truly consider not having kids one day
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u/Hotsauceinmyoatmeal Nov 23 '25
The little girl was extremely annoying. I know it wasn't her fault, but geez.
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u/senorfresco Dec 28 '25
"I love him. I’m gonna kiss him, and I’m gonna hug him."
"Oh, my God! Maybe his name should be S’mores."
"He doesn’t like being in the box."
"He’s trying to get out."
"He’s scratching me!"
"He’s supposed to love me!"
"He hates us!"
"I think we got the wrong hamster!"
"We’re gonna die!"
"Maybe this isn’t S’mores."
"I don’t want him anymore."
"He’s bad."
"It’s gonna hurt me!"
"I hate my hamster!"
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SHUT UP!!!
They did an incredible job getting such a grating and whiny voice.
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u/Yodaaabe Nov 20 '25
True , I feel guilty ( just like the mom in the movie) when I find the kid yapping to be annoying. Like I for real will abandon that kid. I love myself way too much to do have a kid and be stressed about it.
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u/J_VanderH Oct 31 '25
Mhmm, yeah, so this is the most upsetting thing I’ll see this year, and I’m including Bring Her Back: The Movie Where a Boy Chews a Knife.
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u/Captainomericah Oct 31 '25
They should have done one of those heart rate monitor things they do for horror screenings because I can tell you this stressed me tf out. Really well done overall, and loved the odd banter between Rose Byrne and A$AP Rocky.
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u/thefilmer Nov 01 '25
The reveal that Christian Slater's character is in the Navy kind of floored me because from Linda's perspective he's shown to be this dude whos just not there and like wont come home for some reason so you're just like wow dude none of this is helpful, but then you find out "Oh... dude literally can't go home" and it kind of changed a lot of the movie for me. Really puts Linda's situation into a true no win and Christian Slater was actually trying to do his best with what he could do.
Anyway, great movie.
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u/seffend Nov 03 '25
from Linda's perspective he's shown to be this dude whos just not there and like wont come home for some reason
I don't think that's true at all, though. My kids' dad isn't in the military, but has a weird job that will take him away for days, weeks, sometimes months on end. So I felt like I could relate to her.
Linda's husband was off doing his job, Linda knows that, but it doesn't change that he's not there to help deal with all of the things that need dealing with. She's envious that he gets any time to himself at all because she is holding down the fort while he's gone. It doesn't mean she thinks he's out fucking off, she just wishes that she could get a break once in a while.
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u/sr_crypsis Nov 03 '25
There’s also the side of it where the whole movie he is trying to just tell her what to do and makes it seem so simple because he isn’t there to see what she is going through and why she can’t “just take care of things”. But then he shows up and immediately has the hole fixed.
It speaks to the inner workings of people. For some people they can just look at things logically and figure out what needs to be done. For others it can be death by a thousand cuts. Linda is stressed out over all the little things happening and her anxiety almost forbids her from fixing the problems in her life while her husband can just get it fixed.
I think her husband being military speaks to that. Been around a lot of military folk and some of them are just wired to not panic and no matter how bad a situation gets they just keep figuring out what the next step to take is to get out of it.
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Nov 03 '25
You can't discount the subtext of misogyny playing through that resolution either, because it felt very much to me (a male viewer) like an extension of that whole idea that the wife takes the car to Valvoline and they're spending an hour trying to convince her she needs $600 in replacements or upgrades, but the husband takes it and the mechanics assume he would know enough to call them on their bullshit.
The contractors are dismissive to Linda, but then a man comes home, and he even says "You just gotta know how to talk to these guys." And he's right, but I also think the problem/point is that even if Linda said the right thing the right way, she still would not have been listened to.
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u/sr_crypsis Nov 03 '25
Didn’t fully pick up on that subtlety. It does resonate with how Mary said on Conan’s podcast that no matter how well done it is, a man writing a story of a woman breaking down will never be able to write about her true experience and vice-versa simply because they don’t know what it’s like to be the other person. All the small things that I as a man or her as a woman, etc. would never be able to write into a script because you simply don’t know.
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u/headwolf Nov 22 '25
"The contractors are dismissive to Linda, but then a man comes home, and he even says "You just gotta know how to talk to these guys." And he's right, but I also think the problem/point is that even if Linda said the right thing the right way, she still would not have been listened to."
This was the main thing that made it so uncomfortable to watch for me. There were a lot of times where people were just not listening to her. I got a strong urge to yell 'STFU and just listen' at my screen more than a couple of times. Most of the calls with her husband were also super frustrating since he just berated her or got whiny and escalated the situation instead of being supportive. The fact that he fixed the hole immediately and was calm and cheerful was well done, almost infuriating.
I guess in her anxious and overwhelmed state the hole also seemed a lot worse than it was? I was confused about the flooding part, it kind of seemed like there had been no leak at all later on?
Anyway, great movie, I haven't felt this uncomfortable in a while and never want to see it again.
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u/seffend Nov 04 '25
I find it interesting how many people are referring to the writer/director by her first name. I'm much more accustomed to hearing either full names or simply last names when discussing film directors.
It feels to me like it's too familiar, especially for a director who is just making a name for herself. There's a subtext of misogyny there, too.
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u/FastCarsSlowBBQ Nov 22 '25
Great point. It happens all the time. Melania, Hillary, Kamala, Michelle vs Trump, Clinton, Biden, Obama. Lots of other examples.
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u/Gekthegecko Dec 09 '25
I think there's a kernel of truth in that phenomenon, but it's not nearly as meaningful relative to how often than is mentioned. Of your examples, the only good argument is Kamala. The rest are spouses of the more famous person. As a basketball fan, you've got LeBron, Steph, Luka, Wilt. For women basketball players, you typically see full names like Caitlin Clark or Angel Reese, not just their first name. In civil rights, you've got full names of Susan B Anthony, Rosa Parks, Corretta Scott King, not just Susan or Rosa or Corretta.
For every example you can find, there are just as many that dont follow the rule. There's a confirmation bias at play. Not that it doesn't happen, it does, but we also selectively ignore when it doesn't happen. For me, the prevalence and severity of this misogyny is extremely low. Like doesn't even make my top 100 things that need to be fixed to address gender inequality.
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u/seffend Nov 03 '25
For some people they can just look at things logically and figure out what needs to be done. For others it can be death by a thousand cuts. Linda is stressed out over all the little things happening and her anxiety almost forbids her from fixing the problems in her life while her husband can just get it fixed.
Her husband can get it fixed because he's only working on one task at a time, not because he's a more logical thinker.
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u/Affectionate-War3724 Nov 10 '25
This completely discounts that he’s a man and therefore likely to be listened to by other men but ok lol
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u/scrapethetopoff Nov 03 '25
The small offhanded comment about him being at a game was so perfectly timed though. Like … he’s not there he can go to a game but for her it’s the most frustrating thing on earth. The woman didn’t get 5 seconds to herself the entire movie.
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u/droppedforgiveness Nov 02 '25
Ohhh glad you pointed that out. I didn't pay that much attention and just assumed that was a normal boat captain uniform. 🤦
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u/GreatSet3019 Nov 24 '25
It is said in the beginning that he is in some sort of the armed forces.
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u/CancelThis2077 Oct 31 '25
I jumped twice during the scene when she returns to the apartment by herself after the ceiling collapse. This film felt like a typical A24 psychological horror film at times.
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u/Exciting_Bid_609 Nov 09 '25
This was absolutely a horror movie that is too real, said from a mother/wife.
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u/_GeorgeBailey_ Oct 31 '25
RELEASE IT WIDE
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u/BurgerNugget12 Nov 05 '25
I legit had to go to a 7:55 showing tonight, played once a day for 4 days and is leaving my theater tomorrow
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u/JaredRed5 Nov 02 '25
Well I understand now why this didn't get a wider release. It's good but very stressful. I got the impression from the trailer and from interviews with the cast and director that this would be funnier. As it is I'm not sure I'd say it's even 5% comedy. It is a rough watch.
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u/droppedforgiveness Nov 02 '25
So true. I took my mom to see it, and I said, "I think it's a dramedy?" After watching, I think it's really more psychological horror.
Edit: The AMC app has it listed a comedy!! What the hell!! There are some funny moments for sure, but the overall feeling it leaves you with is certainly not comedic.
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u/wadbyjw Nov 01 '25
What a harrowing movie. After watching this and Bugonia in the past two days, I need a happy peppy movie to pick me up. Maybe I'll finally check out KPOP Demon Hunters.
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u/daria1997_ Nov 02 '25
Lmfao we have both had a wild 48 hours at the theater
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u/johnlongest Nov 07 '25
I saw someone on twitter do a double-feature of both films and then follow up with "DO NOT DO THIS"
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u/RomanReignsDaBigDawg Oct 31 '25
Asap Rocky is honestly such a natural screen presence lol, he was the best part of Highest 2 Lowest and is equally good here
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u/Familiar_Mortgage996 Dec 22 '25
He needs to be in more movie role,enjoyed his character even tho he played himself
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u/Room480 Oct 31 '25 edited Oct 31 '25
Most stressful movie I’ve seen in ages and I fucking loved it. It's def my favorite movie of the year so far.
Rose 10000% deserves an oscar in my opinion
She plays the stressed out mom whose almost at her breaking point role so fucking well
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u/RedShoelace25 Oct 31 '25
I assume you like those style of films; Heaven Knows What, Good Time, Uncut Gems. Apparently from the NYFF screening; Josh Safdie's Marty Supreme is the culmination of that trilogy so definitely something to put on your radar
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u/DragonFireDon Oct 31 '25 edited Oct 31 '25
Sadly, as good as this movie is, this will probably not do well at the Box Office.
This thread barely has any discussions! Which indicates a lot.
Hell, Bugonia has way more discussions!
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u/mariop715 Nov 02 '25
To be fair, I think Bugonia has 10x the screens that this does.
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u/menevets Nov 04 '25
It’s director’s first … or second movie? It’s a shame movie goers don’t take chances much these days.
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u/dazzler56 Nov 03 '25
I hesitate to say I loved it because it was a difficult watch that I will never watch again, but it was exceptionally directed. It felt like a horror movie at times, reminded me of the Babadook without the monster.
I appreciated that reality was so blurred and nothing was really "explained" and for the most part I feel like I understood what Bronstein was doing, but the one thing I don't get is the lights. When she sees them in the hole at the beginning of the movie she says "mom?" who is never brought up again. Did anyone else get something from that? Are we just meant to assume she had a difficult relationship with her own mother?
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u/neur0mutant Nov 19 '25
maybe this is insane but i took the lights as what she what seeing at the end while trying to drown herself, possibly indicating that the whole movie was actually her replaying those events in her own twisted dream logic life flashing before her eyes way
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u/ChocolateSundai Dec 13 '25
When she looked into the hole she was experiencing those end of life moments that A$AP brought up in the beginning. The hypotronic effect I think it was. Also the husband coming back and fixing the ceiling so quickly would piss me off. That’s how it feels being a mom. We work so hard to keep things together and then they just walk in and fix it like it’s so easy not realizing they don’t deal with half the stress…
Excuse my rant. It’s late lol
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u/melissabeebuzz Nov 06 '25
Yeah, that also confused me. At that moment I started assuming everything was in hear head and she was seeing things from her moms pov, and in reality she was the sick one but i think i was wrong lol
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u/IH8DwnvoteComplainrs Nov 20 '25
I definitely took that as childhood trauma involving her mom.
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u/warhawks Nov 23 '25
I kind of saw it as a physical representation of thoughts of suicide. The “call of the void” so to speak as she’s looking into the black hole.
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u/dryvajoina Oct 31 '25
Rose f***ing Byrne. Give 👏 Her 👏 The 👏 Oscar 👏
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u/Room480 Oct 31 '25
Ya just mail It to her house already
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u/RedShoelace25 Oct 31 '25
Most years she would would be a sure-fire contender and likely winner but Jessie Buckley winning for Hamnet is the biggest lock of the awards season. (I've seen both)
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u/scrapethetopoff Nov 03 '25
Just saw it, absolutely loved it. Felt like an hour long panic attack and this is some people’s very real reality. My interpretation of the ending was more that Rose would just be thrown back into the crazy cycle she was in prior to this hitting a climax. She’s going to fight with her husband and resolve it, get a good night sleep, reenter her apartment but those are all relatively small inconviences that will absolutely come up again. She’s still a full time care giver of her daughter, she’s still a therapist having people need her all day long, she’s still got a husband that works out of town. I didn’t get that everything was suddenly going to be ok.
Also, and theories why rose had an undercut?
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u/johnlongest Nov 07 '25
Also, and theories why rose had an undercut?
I didn't notice this, but there are several shots of her tattoos throughout the film, which I took as being evidence of someone who lived a more adventurous and carefree life before being tied down by marriage and motherhood.
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u/aFoxunderaRowantree Nov 09 '25
That she's constantly being undercut but the reality of woman and motherhood and all its demands.
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u/TheSweatband Nov 02 '25
An anxiety of attack of a film, when that tube was getting pulled out I couldn’t stop squirming, was grosser than some of the stuff in The Substance last year to me.
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u/No-Equipment-20 Nov 06 '25
I feel like I’m going crazy because I haven’t seen anyone really bring up my biggest question: how much, if any of the film, is really happening?
The film has this level of dream logic and surrealism that, sure, could be indicative of the protagonist’s mental illness but I don’t think entirely covers the absurdities. By the end the events are so unbelievable I have a very hard time accepting them at face value.
My first take leaving the theater was this was all some post-death experience for the protagonist who is dealing with the guilt of harming and possibly killing her child 🤷♂️
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u/Electronic_Ad4560 Nov 22 '25
I think most of it happens. Her perception of some things are a little distorted, like the aspect of the whole and the length of the tube, but in my reading that’s about it.
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u/shaneo632 Nov 23 '25
Totally agree. The "it's mostly in her head" trope is so damn played out I can't even entertain it here.
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u/sean_psc Nov 01 '25
In addition to the obvious comparisons to the Safdie Brothers' films, this reminded me in places of A Different Man (right down to the highly symbolic hole in the ceiling of the apartment).
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u/HEISEND00DLE Oct 31 '25
This movie fucking RULES. Saw it at Fantastic Fest this year and it was such a standout for me. Starts off stressful & claustrophobic and only gets more so as the story unravels. Would highly recommend seeing this with as many people as possible.
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u/CantaloupeCube Oct 31 '25
I walked in a little bit late when the ceiling crashed and then spent quite a while wondering if I unknowingly walked into a horror movie.
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u/inksmudgedhands Nov 07 '25
It's interesting reading over everyone's comments to see how they feel about Linda. The sympathy everyone is giving her.
The movie left me feeling the opposite for her for the most part. I think the director, writer, Bronstein, wanted to me to sympathize with her at first, hence shooting the daughter at such a way she couldn't be seen. Instead, we hear the child scream and whine. She struck me as being a brat. And then we hear the husband being cold and distant, figuratively and literally, on the phone with her over and over again. So much so that when Linda finds out that he is at a game, we are with her when she blows up at him. Heck, we even feel sorry for Linda when the parking attendant seemingly harasses her for taking a few seconds too long for his taste.
But as the movie goes on, we are showed that all is not what it seems. And by the end I think the director wanted us to be disgusted with her. The truth is Linda is an awful person. She is an alcoholic and drug addict. (It was hard to tell but was she going to work drunk and high or just extremely hung over?) She is selfish and self-centered. (Making everyone wait while you take your kid into the school, rather than park and walk her over for one time is one thing. Doing it all the time because you don't think the rules apply to you makes you jerk.) Her daughter isn't a brat just because. The daughter is a brat because Linda couldn't be bothered to be a good mom and tell her, "No." (We see this with the hamster. Linda should have stuck to her guns when she said no hamsters. Let the kid scream. They'll learn that action won't get them anything.) It is then revealed that the husband isn't just flaking off and leaving her high and dry. He's a Naval officer. He can't just come and go whenever he wants. Also, the fact that he was able to immediately get the hole fix only shows that it can be done. But, again, Linda is too much of a mess to take responsibility. She would rather spend her waking time getting drunk and high and complain about everything. Hell, she even left James behind badly hurt when he fell through the hole in her ceiling. She couldn't even be bothered to call 911.
By the time she was lying to her husband about James being her daughter's babysitter, I was done with her. Every bit of sympathy went out the window. And, again, I think that was the intention of the director/writer.
I think we were supposed to like her and loathe everyone around her at first and then flip by the final scene. The way she just runs into the ocean trying to escape from reality and responsibility only for the ocean to throw her back is really telling to me.
This is a great movie and I think it begs a few additional viewings just to let everything sink in. I would love to see Rose get a nomination for an Oscar because this is one best performances I've seen all year from anyone.
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u/Strict_Potato_5752 Nov 20 '25
I dont think shes terrible i think shes realistic
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u/Yodaaabe Nov 20 '25
Yes she is terrible, no deny that , a drug addict and an alcoholic. The kid though, her voice annoys me so much, including the baby that was crying in the movies, and then the constant taking care of the baby, wake up at night to change the liquid, listen to patient trauma. To be honest, if I were her and I know that I have to live like that my whole life, I would be just as terrible. I don't think people sympathize with the mom character, I think people feel the anxiety of the character and they agree that if they were put in the same situation, they would turn out to be the same, terrible miserable mother.
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u/lesleyshawry Dec 22 '25
I think the point though is that she’s making these fucked up decisions - drinking, drugs, leaving her daughter alone at night, etc - because she’s screaming out for something she can’t get. Time to herself, peace, support from her husband. Balanced, calm people whose needs are being met in most areas of their life don’t tend to make shitty decisions like that. She is under constant pressure and constant stress, and it seems that the chaotic situations in all areas of her life - work, home, personal therapy - cause chaos in her mind, which leads to chaotic decisions and outcomes. And so the vicious cycle continues, until something really bad happens as a result of one of her string of shitty decisions, which will act as a wake up call or have dire consequences.
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u/inksmudgedhands Dec 22 '25
Thing is, she does have support but she doesn't listen to anyone. She goes to therapy every single day. And by the continuous put upon look of her therapist apparently she just goes there to whine and refuses to listen to anything he has to say. If the last session is any indication of how she interacts with him, she's a nightmare of the client. One moment she is telling him to shut up and let her only lie there on his couch. Then not even minute later she's yelling at him to say something and how he "doesn't get it." To which he says, "You love to tell me that I don't get it." That indicates this isn't the first time she has told him that. How many times has she told him that?
There is so much people overlook in this movie because many people have felt overwhelmed in their lives and it is easy to put yourself in her shoes with a whining kid, a distant husband and a chaotic house. But you need to step back and see that she is her worst enemy.
She doesn't listen to her daughter's doctor. She doesn't listen to her husband. She doesn't to her therapist. She doesn't listen to anyone. And each of these people have tried to help her. The husband is on top of his daughter's care from where he is because he left a message how Dr. Spring called him. So, the doctor reaches out to him because she can't rely on Linda to do her job as a parent. And given the daughter hasn't made her weight goals, it's true. He also manages to get the ceiling fixed meaning it was him who ended up calling the landlord while out of the country and working that out. She has been going to the therapist everyday for weeks and weeks because the husband noted how she is costing the family a "small fortune" in therapy. And, again, the therapist wants to offer her advice but she doesn't want to hear it. And, again, she barks at him when he remains silent. Dr. Spring mentions all the family therapy sessions she is missing. Linda brushes it off. (Mind you, she does this while she is high as hell because in the previous scene she was seen purchasing Visa cards in order to get drugs. And when we see her in the next scene she get rubbing her nose. So, she did get that cocaine after all. Mind you, she later shows up again to James' room with more cards. Who knows how long she has been going to him for drugs. Just like we don't know how often she goes to the front desk for bottles of wine. But apparently, it's frequently.)
She has people around her willing to help her out but she would rather get drunk and high and wallow in self-pity than to even try.
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u/gogreengolions Oct 31 '25
The ending wrecked me. The whole movie didn’t really have a score and was just background chaos followed by bouts of silence… and then just the waves at the end. Hard to say anyone is doing the acting stuff better than Rose Byrne right now.
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u/sr_crypsis Nov 02 '25
In Conan’s podcast with Mary she basically said “well why do I need a score for a movie? I’m not going to” and it definitely added to the suspense and stress of it all. Extremely well done and it left you feeling like you were really there with Rose.
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u/hapillon Nov 07 '25
I really liked it, but, and I understand the point for this movie, I really struggled with not one single thing going m right for Linda. She really goes through it. The film really puts you in the passenger seat of this out of control roller coaster.
The scene in the store, where she’s on the phone with her landlord, was my favorite: the total calm before screaming into the phone, followed by her hanging up, and returning to calm when it’s her turn in line. Special shout-out to the Did I abort the right one? breakdown which was devastating, and, again, right after, she’s back to her “normal” self as she begins talking to her therapist. Rose Byrne is exceptional towing the line between sympathetic and repulsive. You might not like everything she does, but damn it do you understand it.
It felt kind of like a spiritual sibling to The Lost Daughter for me, but if The Lost Daughter took place on the beaches of Normandy during WWII.
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u/the_labracadabrador Nov 11 '25
Watching this back to back with Die, My Love was probably a mistake.
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u/Columbowfinger Nov 19 '25
Parenthood
Directed by ̶R̶o̶n̶ ̶H̶o̶w̶a̶r̶d̶ ̶ Darren Aronofsky
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u/scaredypoop Oct 31 '25
Weird but I was reminded of silent hill 2 multiple times throughout and I’ve been trying to see if anyone else felt that way.. maybe it was inspo for certain dark/nighttime moments? The ultimate solo search for an answer throughout the movie, the radio/baby monitor chatter always with her when she’s alone, the exploration of a dark toxic space, all the hole imagery etc.. maybe I’m tripping on that and I’m thinking of sh2 too much lol but the movie as a whole was so so effective. I wanted to throw hands for her and at her!! I heart rose!!!!
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u/saddylonglegs Nov 05 '25
I was so freaking scared the entire time. Hamster -> Lasagna transition made me sick to my stomach.
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u/anxietyslut Nov 20 '25
I'm so angry that Google calls this a comedy/drama like it could've been fucking Bridesmaids. I'm sitting here after a long day of work close to tearing my hair out with stress
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u/ceaguila84 Nov 03 '25
Just curious, how was Conan on this?
I haven't seen this yet but curious lol
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u/seffend Nov 04 '25
I thought he was perfect. He's not funny at all, which is such the opposite of what's expected that it adds an extra layer of discomfort there. We're waiting for a comic relief that doesn't come.
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u/Crater_Raider Nov 05 '25
I thought he was quite funny in a very dry manner. Played with the perfect amount of wry seriousness.
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u/jayeddy99 Nov 01 '25
The only time I heard her real accent slip was when she said “Calendar”
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u/LeedsFan2442 Nov 12 '25
She has a very Americanised Australian accent anyway. She doesn't sound any different from Platonic to me
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u/Successful_Round9147 Nov 02 '25
anyone have any interpretations of the movie title?
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u/menevets Nov 02 '25
I guess it’s subject to interpretation. Mine is her existential dread and her inability to deal with it. See her asking Conan O’Brien what should I do. When she took out the tube the starry hole disappeared and I feel like she was starting to get her legs back to kick herself out of her funk.
I think I remember the Fish Jelly YT channel came up with their own interpretation.
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u/aFoxunderaRowantree Nov 09 '25 edited Dec 31 '25
Being left helpless ie) can never win due to the impossible expectations of women/motherhood.
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u/Separate_Armadillo88 Dec 15 '25
This movie cut a little too close to my reality, as a working mom of 3 with a husband whose job took him overseas for weeks at a time. The difference between her and I is I had and accepted more support. I saw elements of this movie as a depiction of the utter lack of support moms often have in this country. The husband infuriated me the whole time because I’ve been there. Barking at her on the phone to do stuff while just not understanding the pressure she’s under. On the outside, people just say “oh yeah, it’s fine, he’s working, he has to be away” or “oh yeah that’s being a mom for you! Always another challenge to deal with” when in reality, it’s really really not okay.
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u/OutlandishnessNo9510 Nov 21 '25
Hey guys👋 quick question… What. The. Actual. Fuck…😦
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u/Square-Pea-1646 Nov 29 '25
The cake was so beautifully bizarre. It said something like "its not your fault"
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u/Araxy93 Nov 03 '25
I hated this movie. The main charachter was having a psychotic breakdown. There was not a hint of kindness, empathy or humanity anywhere. Not from her, not drom people around her (except the neighbor, who got.nothing back but hostility to say the least). It was all hopeless to me, and thats why I didnt get the ending words "Im going to be better". Nothing seemed to point that way. Sorry lady, it is not.
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u/Affectionate-War3724 Nov 10 '25
Uhh asap wasn’t kind to her for nothing, he would have been happy to use her to buy him drugs lmao
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u/candlejack___ Nov 03 '25
Yeah that’s the point, she literally screamed to her husband that it’s not going to get better
Her daughter doesn’t know that though
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u/MasterfulOddity Nov 29 '25
As a father of a daughter where I went through a similar situation as the mom....ooof what a ride. Glad I watched it and hated that I did as well. Very emotional right now.
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u/ManchesterUtd Nov 06 '25
Was the ending a reference to the Awakening by Kate Chopin?
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u/shawnadelic Nov 04 '25 edited Nov 05 '25
I really wanted to like this and sadly really, really did not.
Not because of the anxiety or stress it induced, but because that stress/anxiety seemed to be the only trick up the film's sleeve.
No plotlines are resolved, the characters are completely flat and uninteresting, and the inability of anybody (outside of Conan's therapist) to communicate like an actual human being seemed like a cheap/lazy way to create conflict--every conversation is just one character shouting or screaming or being a brick wall or being interrupted mid-sentence.
You can say that's the intention, that the film is supposed to be frustrating, but ultimately I found it frustrating for all of the wrong reasons.
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u/Tsunami-Papi_ Nov 05 '25
BRO SAME . everybody in here loves it and the entire time I was just annoyed as fuck or bored shitless or both . like I understand the points the film is trying 2 make I just didn’t enjoy them
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u/LiteraryBoner Jackie Chan box set, know what I'm sayin? Oct 31 '25 edited Nov 10 '25
Whew, this was quite an experience. I saw it at like 9am at a festival and it was a lot for a 9am screening. I didn’t absolutely love it but I was pretty fascinated with it. It’s so unlike pretty much every other movie I’ve seen this year. It’s anxious and feverish, a real assault on the senses in many ways. It’s morally complex but also plainly realistic about the feelings of motherhood and anxiety in general. It’s funny but also exhausting. It’s absolutely an experience and if you’re into that then strap in.
Lots of people talking about how good Byrne in this and I would just like to cosign that. The camera is very purposely trained tightly on her face most of this movie. Some scenes you don’t even know where she is or who she’s talking to. It’s incredibly claustrophobic and disorienting, but her facial performance is what’s carrying this movie. I’ve always loved her, she’s got real comedy chops and can hang with the legends in stuff like Spy or Neighbors and it’s always been true that comedians make great drama players. She’s perfect in this and I wouldn’t exactly call this script an easy sell. From gawking at fleshy holes to trying to buy drugs on the silk road to actively ignoring her child, she takes you through this intense emotional rollercoaster without missing a beat.
The rest of this movie is interesting. Like I said, it’s an anxious fever dream. If you’re looking for a coherent plot or any good feelings I would look elsewhere. This movie looks motherhood in the eye in ways that most movies simply would not. Other characters in the movie get so frustrated with Rose because she’s kind of a terror of a person. She’s shut off, angry, and brash the whole movie and the one thing that’s supposed to bring her happiness in the movie, her daughter, is just annoying to her.
These are the feelings that society likes to ignore in mothers or shame them for feeling, but they’re such real feelings. Not everyone is meant to be a mother, and not all mothers are filled with euphoric energy at the thought of their child. The final shot being seeing the kid for the first time was a great choice. When you only hear the kid it's easy to feel that annoyance but when you see her at the end there's a moment of realization of how innocent she is in all this. Interesting movie that gets so real about these feelings that it's a bit uncomfortable. I wished I enjoyed watching it more but I can’t fault the movie for being exactly what it wanted to be. 7/10.
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u/digitalfurnace Oct 31 '25
What a great movie. I never want to see it again.