Monday, February 23, 2026

If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You (2025)

Nominated for Best Actress     Content warning:  medical horror, child endangerment, animal death (hamster)

Linda (Rose Byrne), a chronically sleep-deprived mother, is trying to fight a number of battles.  The ceiling of her apartment has collapsed, forcing her and her daughter (Delaney Quinn) to move into a run-down motel.  Her daughter has a feeding tube and requires constant attention, while also weaponizing her condition to manipulate the adults around her.  Linda's job as a psychotherapist is unfulfilling, and her husband (Christian Slater) is absent much of the time while doing his job as a cruise captain, leaving Linda to handle everything in his absence and berating her for not doing it perfectly and without complaint.  Then one of her patients abandons a baby in her office and goes missing.

This was the most claustrophobic movie I have ever seen.  The camera stays so tightly on Byrne, it makes you feel like you are nose-to-nose with her.  Honestly, this would be such a good double-feature with The Babadook.  I'm counting it as horror, even though Wikipedia is claiming this is a comedy-drama.  There was not a single moment of comedy for me, though, so I have no idea what it is talking about.  Just skin-crawling anxiety and stress.  So much more effective than Marty Supreme even though Linda is also an unlikeable character making bad choices, but crucially, remained somewhat sympathetic.  I can't claim that I liked this movie but I can recognize that it worked.

It's currently streaming on HBO Max.

No comments:

Post a Comment