If I Had Legs I'd Kick You 2025

Non spoiler thoughts (summary): I immediately notice how different Rose Byrne feels here. She looks drained, and emotionally spent in a way that makes the whole film feel heavy. That discomfort only deepens because the story taps into one of my own fears about therapy, the idea that the person meant to help might be carrying their own private chaos. The filmmaking adds a lot to that suffocating feeling. The close ups, handheld camera work, and dim lighting make everything feel unstable and exhausted, almost like the film is transferring that anxiety directly into me. What stays with me is Byrne’s performance. It is raw, unpleasant, and deeply convincing, the kind that makes the whole experience hard to shake off. ⚠️ Spoilers ahead. From here on, plot details are discussed. Read on if you’ve seen the film. If not, save this post and come back after. ⚠️ Unique title for me. I also see a very different Rose Byrne energy here. She is not radiant like in X-Men or The Internship. She looks exhausted, uninterested, and very skinny. Almost like the life has been drained out of her. It often feels like she is counseling herself rather than her patients. That is honestly one of my fears if I ever go to therapy. What if the counselor is not actually interested in my stories and feelings while I am being vulnerable in front of them? What if the therapist themselves is unstable? Watching her character made me wonder how many therapists out there are quietly dealing with their own chaos. Drug problems, paranoia, anger issues, narcissism. It makes me question the idea of authority in therapy. If someone is that out of sync with their own thoughts and emotions, should they even be practicing? At some point I was even thinking she should probably lose her license. The direction, camera work, and lighting strongly reminded me of Good Time from 2017. Everything feels uncomfortable, suffocating, and dimly lit. The film constantly traps me in tight close ups and handheld shots that feel unstable, like the camera itself is anxious. The lighting is intentionally dark and murky, which adds to that sense of exhaustion and emotional suffocation. Rose Byrne here reminds me of Robert Pattinson in Good Time and even Al Pacino in Insomnia. They all carry that same sleep deprived frustration, desperately trying to fix things that are constantly falling apart. Watching this feels similar to the experience of Insomnia and Uncut Gems at the same time. That heavy tiredness mixed with the anxiety of juggling too many problems at once. It almost feels like the film is transferring that exhaustion directly into me. And this is also why I do not do drugs. Watching her slowly slip between reality, memory, and hallucination is terrifying. It feels like her grip on the world is slowly dissolving. I was honestly convinced that Jessie Buckley would win Best Actress this year. But after watching Rose Byrne here, I am starting to think she might be the one who takes it. Her performance is just that raw and uncomfortable.