Die My Love is a scene-exploding showcase for Jennifer Lawrence, portraying a first-time mother unraveling in her isolation. At times, it’s uncomfortable to watch for its sheer rawness; other times, it’s difficult simply because you wish someone would turn on the lights (director Lynne Ramsay’s film is filled with dimly lit scenes of people sitting in the dark). Yet it’s always watchable, even if it’s occasionally a bit of a head-scratcher.
Grace (Lawrence) and Jackson (Robert Pattinson) are young and in love. They’ve moved into a dead uncle’s abandoned rural home, where they tussle on the floor like wild animals, passionately making love. In this countryside setting, Grace in particular seems to be tapping into her, er, naturalistic side, often crawling around on all fours or barking at their dog. All seems well. Fast-forward through her pregnancy, and they are settled in the house with a 6-month-old child. But with Jackson gone for work for seemingly days at a time, Grace becomes unsettled and unstable.
Luckily, as Grace slowly becomes unhinged, she’s never abusive to the child. She even admits that her boy is the only thing that makes sense to her; it’s the rest of the world that’s batshit crazy in her eyes. Lawrence uses her natural dry humor (that we’ve seen so often in interviews) to nail Grace’s wry, dismissive, and utterly brittle view of the world (two great moments are of Grace being verbally cruel to a checkout girl, and later scene where she tries to be normal at a party with other young families). Meanwhile, Jackson grows desperate as he watches Grace become more and more unstable.
Die My Love is two hours long, and I have to admit I checked my watch not too far into it to see how much time had progressed. It doesn’t waste time presenting Grace in full-on post-partum rage mixed with unchecked mental health issues. Fleshing out the film are a lot of moments heavy with symbolism, along with ambiguous side plots that may or may not have been real (like a tryst with a mysterious motorcyclist, which honestly kind of confused me).
But the acting is top-notch, making this dark ride through one woman’s unraveling worth watching. Nick Nolte and Sissy Spacek stand out in small roles as Jackson’s parents, with Lawrence sharing a lovely, understated chemistry with both. Pattinson is solid as a man clearly in over his head, often realizing too late the damage already done. Still, this is unmistakably Jennifer Lawrence’s show: her raw, fearless performance absolutely anchors the film even as the story itself begins to wobble.
