Linda (Rose Byrne) is a woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown. With her husband away and her apartment falling apart, Linda has to try and juggle her career and manage her daughter’s illness. 

Linda’s daughter, always just out of camera shot, is perpetually whining, crying, or placing unfair demands on her. We gradually learn that she has a severe eating disorder, and Linda, as many parents would, blames herself. But her daughter is no longer a light in her life; she is an anchor. In order to place us in Linda’s mindset, she is never named, she is never really in view, and she is always like nails on a chalkboard in Linda’s mind. Unable to make her better, unable to meet her doctor’s demands, and unable to see light at the end of the tunnel. 

Linda’s husband is away for work. But he is constantly calling her, yelling at her, making demands on her. Both of her loved ones are absent from her view, constantly demanding her attention. 

Then there is her apartment, the roof collapsed following a water leak; it is now unlivable. Her landlord is only ever available at the end of a phone and never responsive to her needs, forcing her and her daughter into a motel. Wherein the attendant is a young woman who seems to relish making Linda’s life even more difficult. 

And then there is Linda’s career as a therapist, where she has to try and help individuals whose mental health is failing, as hers seems to be slowly slipping away. If only her therapist would be present and empathetic and offer her a solution rather than remaining distant and distracted from her needs. 

The camera work and cinematography are superb. We are constantly close to Linda, fully aware of her exasperation. Byrne’s performance as Linda is phenomenally realised. You will be living and breathing her sense of isolation for close to two hours, and you will want to scream both with her and at those around her for help. And we experience everyone else in her life through her lens. It is her perspective, and we need to truly understand the struggles she is facing. 

There are also some really difficult truths held within the plot. Questions around motherhood, therapy, and empathy that are challenging and sympathetically asked. 

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is the type of film that puts you as the viewer through an absolute torturous wringer in order to make you feel the way that the protagonist is feeling. Writer/director Mary Bronstein and star Rose Byrne achieve this so successfully that I can wholeheartedly recommend this film as both a superbly crafted film and the sort of arduous ordeal you may not want to repeat again!