In the early 2000s, a subgenre of cinema emerged that still lingers today: the mumblecore movement. These films favored naturalistic performances, dialogue-driven storytelling, and an intimate focus on the personal lives of young adults. The movement became a launchpad for several influential filmmakers, including Greta Gerwig, the Duplass brothers, Alex Ross Perry, and Josh and Benny Safdie, who began in mumblecore before breaking through with their 2019 masterpiece Uncut Gems.
One of the Safdies’ closest collaborators is Ronald Bronstein, their longtime editor and now a creative force behind Josh Safdie’s upcoming solo project Marty Supreme. Bronstein directed the 2007 film Frownland, now part of the Criterion Collection, where he met his future wife Mary Bronstein, then known as Mary Wall. A year later, she made her own debut with Yeast (2008), starring herself, Gerwig, and both Safdie brothers. Seventeen years later, she has returned with a striking follow-up: a darkly comic psychological drama.
The film opens with a close-up of Linda, played by Rose Byrne in a career-defining performance. From the outset, Bronstein makes an unusual stylistic choice. Linda’s daughter, played by Quinn Delaney, is rarely shown in full, her face deliberately obscured, while Linda’s husband Charles, played by Christian Slater, appears only briefly. Charles is a Navy man whose name evokes both the idea of leadership and the image of a captain steering through rough waters. The daughter suffers from a mysterious illness that requires a feeding tube, placing immense strain on Linda, who works as a therapist and spends her days absorbing the burdens of others while struggling with her own. She even sees her own therapist, played by Conan O’Brien in a subdued and restrained performance.
Linda’s stress escalates when her home becomes uninhabitable after a ceiling leak collapses into a gaping hole, forcing her into a hotel. The imagery of holes recurs throughout the film, mirroring her unraveling mental state. The wound in the ceiling reflects the feeding tube wound in her daughter’s stomach, both open, unhealed voids that haunt the story.
At the hotel, Linda encounters James, played by A$AP Rocky, a charismatic presence who tempts her with self-destructive escapes. He repeatedly offers her drugs sourced from the dark web, though she continually withdraws. Sleepless nights, numbed by weed and wine, further destabilize her grip on reality. A subplot involving one of her patients, Riley, played by Danielle Macdonald, a new mother facing struggles that echo Linda’s own, sharpens the film’s tension. A pivotal decision Riley makes becomes the breaking point that drives Linda past recovery.
What makes If I Had Legs I Would Kick You unforgettable is its ability to shift tone with unnerving precision. Just as a scene seems to land in raw, serious territory, it will suddenly twist into dark comedy, often through Bronstein’s unusual sense of humor. This tonal whiplash keeps the audience off-balance, unsure whether to laugh, recoil, or both.
Christopher Messina’s cinematography reinforces this instability. He often frames Linda in tight, suffocating close-ups that emphasize how trapped she feels, the camera pressing in as though her world is shrinking around her. These are punctuated by surreal sequences where the camera follows through long, disorienting tunnel passages. The imagery suggests her downward spiral and the feeling that she is being pulled further into an emotional abyss.
The film is punctuated by two shocking sequences that blend violence and humor in unsettling ways. To describe them would ruin the surprise, but one in particular is likely to linger in viewers’ minds. At my screening, the audience reacted with a mix of gasps and uneasy laughter, a rare and charged response that speaks to Bronstein’s command of tone.
Above all, the film belongs to Rose Byrne. Her raw, layered performance anchors the chaos around her and transforms the film into something extraordinary. Awards chatter has already marked her as a frontrunner, and it is hard to imagine the season without her name in contention. Byrne delivers a performance of extraordinary precision and vulnerability. By the time the film closes on its haunting final line, her presence ensures that If I Had Legs I Would Kick You will stay with audiences long after the credits roll.
Watch the trailer right here.
All images via A24.
Directed by Mary Bronstein
Screenplay by Mary Bronstein
Produced by Ronald Bronstein, Eli Bush, Richie Doyle, Conor Hannon, Sara Murphy, Josh Safdie, Ryan Zacarias
Starring Rose Byrne, Conan O’Brien, A$AP Rocky, Delaney Quinn, Mary Bronstein, Ivy Wolk, Christian Slater, Danielle Macdonald
Premiere Date: January 24, 2025 (Sundance)
Running Time: 113 minutes
Cinema from the Spectrum 
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