Rose Byrne anchors this jagged dark comedy as a mum who is one bad night away from total collapse. Expect anxiety, black humour and a reality that keeps tilting just out of frame. It is intense, funny in the most uncomfortable way and absolutely not one to watch if you are hoping to relax after work.
Film details
- Title: If I Had Legs I'd Kick You
- Premiere in the Netherlands: 18 December 2025
- Director: Mary Bronstein
- Runtime: 113 minutes
- Language & subtitles: English spoken, Dutch subtitles
- Age rating: 16+ for psychological intensity, strong language and some violence
- Genres: Dark comedy, drama, psychological thriller
- Where to watch in Rotterdam:
Quick synopsis (no spoilers):
Linda is a therapist and single parent in practice if not in name, juggling her daughter’s mysterious illness, an absent ship-captain husband and a collapsing home that literally dumps water through the ceiling. When they are forced into a grim roadside motel, insomnia, work crises and a missing-person case push Linda into therapy of her own, where even her therapist may not be who he seems. As sleepless nights, strange encounters and darkly comic disasters pile up, the line between Linda’s fear and reality starts to look dangerously thin.
What’s the vibe?
This is parental anxiety turned up to eleven, with the camera glued to Byrne’s face as life closes in from every direction. Critics have called it a “deliberately unpleasant endurance test” and a fever-dream immersion into modern motherhood, but there is a sharp streak of humour running through the horror.
Think A24 energy: motel neon, night walks, surreal touches and a constant sense that something awful might happen just off-screen. If you enjoyed films where the main character’s stress becomes your stress, this will sit nicely on your personal “why did I do this to myself” list.
Trailer
Check out the trailer below.
Why you might like it
- For your eyes: Tight close-ups, claustrophobic motel corridors and a soggy seaside town give the whole film a damp, restless texture that feels almost physical.
- For your heart: Byrne’s Linda is often unlikeable, frequently overwhelmed and still painfully human, especially if you know the feeling of being “the responsible one” all the time.
- For your mind: The story plays with unreliable perception and the question of how much is real, how much is sleep-deprived panic and what society expects from “good mothers”.
Critical reception
If I Had Legs I'd Kick You is already one of the most talked-about indie releases of the year. On Rotten Tomatoes, it sits in the low 90s with a critics’ consensus that praises its “fever dream immersion into parental stress” and Byrne’s “gutsy star turn”.
Metacritic lists a strong score of 77 out of 100 based on more than thirty reviews, summarising it as a wrenching yet darkly funny howl of maternal desperation.
Festival-wise, the film premiered at Sundance, then headed to Berlin where Rose Byrne won the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance. It has since collected a stack of critics’ prizes and nominations, including National Board of Review honours and a growing wave of awards-season buzz, with talk of Golden Globes and even an Oscar nod.
Reviewers from Variety, The Guardian and AP News all highlight how Bronstein keeps you locked in Linda’s subjective experience, using dark comedy and flashes of horror to make the film both harrowing and strangely funny.
Scene to watch for
There is a brutal mid-film therapy session where Linda finally stops pretending she is coping. The camera barely leaves Byrne’s face as panic, rage and humiliation tumble out in one long, messy confession, while her therapist remains frustratingly detached. It is the kind of scene that makes you want to crawl under your seat and is a big reason Byrne is suddenly in every awards conversation.
Recommended pairing
Go for a late screening and lean into the anxious energy:
- Eat something simple and slightly trashy beforehand, like chips or a greasy takeaway, to mirror Linda’s midnight motel snacks.
- After the film, walk it off with a quiet riverside stroll and a hot chocolate or herbal tea somewhere low-key, ideally somewhere you can sit in a corner and decompress with a friend.
- If you are a parent, maybe schedule something soothing the next morning, such as a slow brunch at home or a phone-free hour with the kids to reassure your nervous system.
Need-to-knows
- Bronstein based parts of the story on her own experience of parenting a seriously ill child, which explains how specific the medical routines and emotional spirals feel.
- You never actually see the daughter’s face. Bronstein deliberately keeps the camera on Linda, so the sick child stays off-screen, and the focus stays on the crushing mental load of care.
- Content warnings: anxiety, panic attacks, self-harm ideation, medical procedures involving feeding tubes, and several scenes that flirt with outright horror.
