Review by Nicholas Porteous for Mr. Will Wong

There’s an early scene in Die, My Love where new mom Grace (Jennifer Lawrence),  post-breastfeeding, still exposed, wanders in front of a blank sheet of paper. It’s late at night and she’s equally bored, stressed out, tired and restless. Something’s brewing deep inside–a quiet rage that can’t be articulated, wrapped in an itchy blanket of aimlessness. She spatters black ink onto the canvas, and squirts her own breast milk, swirling the two around. It’s a minor but pointed act of messiness, and it’s a perfect little metaphor for the entire Movie. Die, My Love is Lynne Ramsay‘s postpartum depression abstraction. It’s chaotic and visceral, and clearly made from something real. But does it amount to more than a jumble of violent shapes and vibes? I’m not so sure about that.

LawandRobert Pattinson move into a secluded little house just outside of town–the perfect arena for madness to take hold. They seem happy–and frisky–but when their baby enters the picture, their cozy life unravels. Pattinson spends all day at work and brings home an annoying dog, while Lawrence tends to the baby, crawls around on all fours and falls into a state of anxiety and unquenchable anger. Lawrence‘s resentment and fury leap off the screen. Her feelings are infectious, and at first glance, there’s not much more to the movie than a slow and steady compounding of these feelings. Personally, I’m a fan of J. Law and I never felt the wave of cultural weariness that prompted her to take a break from acting. I struggled a bit, watching her lash out at her surroundings in every other scene. Ramsay‘s success rate at bringing me into the postpartum consciousness is hit and miss, and Die, My Love is clearly not meant to be a smooth ride. If you’re the type who is predisposed to struggle with J. Law‘s persona, I imagine you’ll have a tough time making it through the movie. This is a fully committed performance, no doubt. It’s also very loud, and unyielding in that loudness. In the back half of the film, that narrative energy teeters into incoherence. I believe that’s what Ramsay‘s going for, but playing with a collection of bold images doesn’t necessarily constitute a bold vision.

Lakeith Stanfield enters the fray as an unnamed dude, seemingly an escapist fantasy for Grace–longing for sex and romance Pattinson can no longer give. I have strong suspicions Stanfield’s character represents a huge missing chunk of Die, My Love. He barely utters a word, Stanfield is too big an actor for such an anonymous part, and whatever his character offers in the way of an arc feels totally unresolved by the time the credits roll. This scattershot sense of narrative compromise and uncertainty extends to the rest of Die, My Love. While the Movie presents many intense slices of profound parental agony, I found the whole package to be more of a headscratcher than an illuminating plunge into the dark side of motherhood. Granted, I’m never giving birth. I may not be capable of resonating with Ramsay and Lawrence‘s specific vibe here. For me, Die, My Love doesn’t manifest into anything greater than a display of that deeply felt rage.

MUBI Canada release DIE MY LOVE in theatres November 7, 2025.