She just can’t seem to catch a good break. Her work is demanding. Her child needs constant care and good support. Rose Byrne plays Linda – a therapist who struggles in her day-to-day as she tries to do her best to care for her sick daughter, played by Delaney Quinn.
The story sets the ball rolling when a water leak causes the ceiling to collapse in their apartment. The shot of the open hole in the ceiling is an image that returns throughout the story. It sets a permanent image in our minds almost like it haunts us too. But we’re left constantly trying to work out what this image really means.
However, after they are forced to move out and relocate to a motel, Linda’s life begins to spiral even further into a psychological warfare as she attempts to balance the tribulations of motherhood. Her child suffers from an eating disorder, and she must be fed through a feeding tube. But as much as she expected motherhood to be full of love, it was full of war instead. Every day lies a different battle for her.
Weirdly experimental in parts, we receive dreamscape sequences. There’s blurred lines here between reality and fantasy. The story constantly makes us question what is real and what is in her imagination? There’s deep sadness, emotional turmoil, and a heartbreaking feeling that her life may never get better. But we still hold onto hope throughout, even if it is just a little.
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You Review: The Painful Reality of Motherhood
Interestingly, her night life is where she lives out her true desires. Drinking. Smoking. Relaxing. There’s so much demanded of her from her job to her duties as a mother that she never gets any time away for herself. Of course, this is no doubt a universal experience and is something that unites women together under the umbrella of the film’s main theme of ‘motherhood.’
It’s fascinating how the director, Mary Bronstein (who also stars in the film as Dr. Spring) actively chooses to position the daughter to be out-of-frame. We know she’s in the scene because of her screams and demands. But she’s never fully present in Linda’s field of vision. This makes us question if Linda is just too busy and overwhelmed to process every challenge that comes her way. And in turn she doesn’t fully take in her surroundings, and that includes her daughter. The story points at a quiet exploration into mental health.
Overwhelmed with the immense pressure and responsibilities of being a working single mother, Linda is often too caught up in the moment to fully live out any desires or potential that she may have boiling underneath. This in turn creates a full circle moment of motherhood and asks where that trouble ends.
We Feel Her Pain & Her Trauma
If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You is no doubt a painful watch. We’re not meant to feel positive at all. We feel her pain, her trauma, and ultimately the weight on her shoulders. But to make matters worse, her clients are highly demanding. There’s Caroline (Danielle Macdonald) who suffers from postpartum anxiety as well as the angry, brash, and young, Stephen (Daniel Zolghadri) who constantly demands to get his own way.
Even if it means arguing constantly with Linda’s therapist and fellow colleague, played by comedian, Conan O’Brien. He’s painfully annoying and is the complete opposite to Linda in every way. But much like the whole cast, Conan plays this role perfectly – he’s character is the type of colleague who never even tries to understand you. And everyone around Linda just seemingly makes her life even more difficult. We are made ‘very successfully’ to feel deeply for her and the evoking of sympathy from the viewer certainly works.
A Mother In Constant Search For More
Emotionally invigorating throughout, Rose Bryne knows just how to play a distressed mother in constant search for more. We get extreme close-up shots that linger on her expression to show the trauma, pain, and intensity of being a mother. She’s constantly switched on and if she stops for a second, something goes wrong. The mystical dreamscape scenes make us question her psyche and if this story will ultimately end happily.
Undeniably, Rose Byrne earned her Golden Globe award for ‘Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.’ As emotionally painful and drained of all energy her character is, we can’t help but think this film relies too much on portraying the negative side of motherhood. Where’s the good times? Even if there are few of them, surely, they’re still there?
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You Review: Sadness, Heartbreak & Desperation
Her husband, Charles, played by Christian Slater is practically a non-existent father, and only turns up in life’s drastic turns. But he’s the upmost judgemental about her parenting. Of course, he turns up at her lowest point. Instead, there’s a build-up of some sort of relationship between Linda and James, played by A$AP Rocky. And the story could have built a little more momentum had this relationship been developed further. But it’s left with loose ends. But it left us wanting to feel so much more. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is for sure a slow burner and runs at a steady pace.
The last shot is the most interesting. Rose finally sees something, very clearly. But is it all too late? I guess it’s up to our imagination, as is the rest of the film. What is in her own imagination and what is in reality is mixed together in a fuel of sadness, heartbreak, and desperation. It’s an inescapable spiral that doesn’t break until she breaks herself.
Rating: 2 ½ stars
And that’s a wrap on our If I Had Legs I’d Kick You review!
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is released in UK cinemas on 20th February 2026. You can read more reviews like this, including Cannes Winner, Sirāt here.