Die My Love
Adapted from the novel of the same name, Die My Love is most notable for the standout performance of Jennifer Lawrence whose character Grace falls into postpartum depression following moving into the suburbs with her husband (Robert Pattinson) and delivering their first child. The film often blurs the lines of what's real and what's hallucinatory fantasy of Grace including visions of a mysterious man (LaKeith Stanfield) on a motorcycle, conversations with her dead father-in-law (Nick Nolte) who it seems is the only one she ever truly bonded with, a mysterious black stallion, and the film's fiery conclusion.
Lawrence is certainly put front-and-center, and deservedly so. Pattinson's character is a bit more problematic as he exists really only in relation to his wife. Incredibly oblivious and self-absorbed through the first-half of the film, by the time he begins to understand something more serious is happening with his wife (which his behavior is only exacerbating) you wonder if it isn't already too late.
Director Lynne Ramsay is interested in exploring the perspecitve of a woman who already seems a bit off (she may or may not believe she's a jungle cat?) long before the issues related to her pregnancy. In that, the film delivers. However, Die My Love is so far entrenched in the exploration of Grace's depression it leaves no room for anything else. Her suffering is all there is, with no larger narrative framing at play or an attempt to offer understanding or suggestion of what comes next. In Ramsey's journey there doesn't appear to be a "next."
Die My Love isn't a fun film, but it's interesting, and just odd enough, particularly for Lawrence's performance. Unapologetically bleak, it's not exactly a film you are likely to enjoy, but it certainly can be appreciated as an unexpected piece of art even if its design limits the amount of story that can be told.
- Title: Die My Love
- IMDb: link
