If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

We never see the child, we just hear a disembodied voice of the child complaining and not wanting to eat. The husband is just a distance voice on the phone. Linda is isolated, completely alone, and never seems to have any quiet time.

Then Linda has a bad week – their apartment floods, they must vacate to a rundown hotel, she leaves her child alone frequently to get high with a neighbor (A$AP Rocky), gets pressure from the hospital who is treating the child, clients cause her problems, she begins to hallucinate, her therapist (Conan O’Brien) is of little help, even the cashier (Ivy Wolk) at the hotel’s store gives her grief.

Rose Byrne’s character is intense and overwrought throughout the entire film; she looks truly desperate and unable to keep up. This is a tough movie to watch, even harder to enjoy, but it is a splendid work of art. I saw it once but really cannot watch it again.

Ms. Byrnes has received a nomination for the Best Actress Oscar. She may beat the current favorite, Jessie Buckley (Hamnet) since If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is contemporary and relevant.