150 Word Review: 'If I Had Legs I'd Kick You' (2025)
Mommy fearest
The nightmares I remember are always the ones that sneak up on me; an ordinary day turns subtly, bizarrely menacing. That’s what I was thinking about while cringing through If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.
Writer-director Mary Bronstein’s movie is a dark, stylized, nerve-wracking exploration of motherhood that isn’t ha-ha funny, but ha-ha yeesh. It was marketed as a quirky comedy, but thankfully, it isn’t that conventional.
This is also a showcase for the brilliant Rose Byrne as an overwhelmed therapist struggling to care for a sick daughter, who we never see, while her husband calls from an endless business trip.
Byrne boils with fear and fury. The only person who listens is a churlish shrink—a surprisingly unlikable Conan O’Brien—who seems to despise her.
The movie surprises with surreal touches, like a hole in an apartment ceiling opening to an abyss. Bronstein dramatizes anxiety masterfully. It’s a wild ride.