Die My Love Review: Jennifer Lawrence is great in Lynne Ramsay’s descent into madness
PLOT: Grace (Jennifer Lawrence), a young mother, begins to lose her grip on reality when she and her increasingly distant husband, Jackson (Robert Pattinson), relocate from New York City to his remote rural home in Montana.
REVIEW: Die My Love is the third movie in the last year to zero in on the mental health challenges faced by mothers after their first child. Of the three, Nightbitch was the sweetest and most reaffirming, while If I Had Legs I’d Kick You was a nightmarish but blackly comic descent into madness. Yet, as harsh a film as that was, it’s practically a romp next to Lynne Ramsay’s Die My Love, in which our protagonist, Grace, suffers from the kind of mental break that one doesn’t necessarily come back from, as her mental state topples from depression to bouts of mania and, ultimately, insanity.
Of course, this makes Die My Love an agonizing watch at times, as the entire movie unfolds from Grace’s increasingly agitated and unraveling mental state. You’re never really sure what’s real or not. It begins with Grace, a writer, and her husband, Pattinson’s Jackson, relocating to a remote home in Montana that used to belong to his uncle, who killed himself — an ominous sign to be sure, but one that also speaks to the danger of suddenly decamping to a remote location one knows nothing about, where there’s next to no social support — something that’s certainly important for a couple starting a family.
It doesn’t take Grace long to unravel after they have their baby, with her initially ravenous sexual relationship with her husband drying up. Lawrence is fearless in the role, and many will say she’s “unlikeable” in the part. To me, this isn’t a question of likeability, as Ramsay is trying to accurately depict Grace’s unravelling, just as she did in her previous films Morvern Callar, We Need To Talk About Kevin, and You Were Never Really Here. Die My Love is most similar to the first movie but is highly impressionistic and non-linear. We never know what’s actually happening or what’s in Grace’s head — including a flirtation with a motorcycle-riding neighbor (LaKeith Stanfield) with a family of his own. At times he seems flirty, but other times he seems like he has no idea who she is.
While Lawrence’s showcase through and through – with standout moments including her crawling around on all fours and does something very un-PC to the family dog who won’t stop barking, the supporting cast is strong. Pattinson’s Jackson is portrayed as someone with his own stresses, including being the family’s sole breadwinner, while his increasingly frazzled wife becomes so unhinged she might be dangerous. A scene where he has a breakdown at a kid’s birthday party feels realistic, but you also get the sense that he’s madly in love with his wife and will stay with her no matter what. Sissy Spacek also has a lovely role as Jackson’s mother, who is supportive of Grace and is enduring her own transition in life, with her husband (played by Nick Nolte, in a small role) in the throes of dementia.
Now, it should be said that Die My Love won’t be to everyone’s taste. Mubi is giving this a big theatrical push on the basis of its star cast, but I imagine fans of the two actors might be shocked by how arthouse this is. Yet it can’t be denied that both of them are excellent, while Ramsay’s movies are always worth watching. Her tight 1.33:1 aspect ratio increases the film’s claustrophobic vibe, while the soundtrack, as always for her movies, is expertly curated. Adventurous audiences should give this one a look if it plays their local arthouse, but maybe avoid the multiplex for this one — it’s the kind of movie a lot of “normal folks” will storm out of angrily.
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