Rose Byrne delivers a jagged human performance in "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You".

Director Mary Bronstein leads Rose Byre in what is a career-best performance in A24’s film “If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You.” Bronstein also writes the screenplay, which centers on the stresses of life.

Byre’s unnamed daughter is struggling with a mysterious illness while her husband, Charles (played by Christian Slater), is away on business. Meanwhile, a patient named Caroline (Danielle Macdonald) has gone missing. As tensions rise, Byre’s character faces an increasingly challenging relationship with her therapist and co-worker (Conan O’Brein)

To make matters worse, a major leak in her apartment creates a significant hole, forcing her to move into a hotel where she meets the straightforward James (A$AP Rocky). One of the first things viewers will notice about the film is that we cannot see anything about the daughter (Delaney Quinn) other than her voice until almost the end of the film.

As a parent, I was instantly drawn to Byrne’s character, as her eyes evoke a sense of anomaly and incompleteness. Viewers need to understand that If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is not an easy film to watch. It confronts you—unblinking, unflinching, and unwilling to let you look away.

Rose Byrne, in a raw and trembling performance, embodies emotional exhaustion with unnerving precision. She isn’t unraveling so much as acknowledging the threads have long since vanished. What we see isn’t recovery or redemption—it’s the persistent ache of someone who realizes nothing will ever truly change.

The film’s greatest strength—and perhaps its cruelty—is how it drags us through Linda’s deteriorating psyche. Family dysfunction, bureaucratic indifference, and the numbing fatigue of repetition collide in a relentless emotional freefall. Director Mary Bronstein resists the temptation to romanticize despair; instead, she gives it texture. The movie doesn’t plead—it lingers, like an echo after the scream.

Christopher Messina’s cinematography mirrors that mental disarray: handheld, jittery, almost claustrophobic. The soundtrack hums with anxiety—part lullaby, part panic attack. At times, the film toys with psychological-thriller tension à la Shutter Island, but wisely sidesteps any big reveal. Its focus remains on isolation, not illusion.

A$AP Rocky adds quiet weight, while Christian Slater and Conan O’Brien bring unexpected nuance. Yet this remains Byrne’s film—her portrayal jagged, humane, and heartbreakingly clear-eyed. She makes Linda both victim and mirror, showing us the cost of endurance in a world that never stops demanding more.

“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” isn’t about madness; it’s about the awful clarity that comes when the light finally burns out.

Final Grade: B

IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU will be released nationwide on October 24th.