If I Had Legs I'd Kick You

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is cinema as experience and, more specifically, cinema as panic attack.

A sensory overload, tour-de-force of stress and constant pressure and anxiety, this film does everything to put you in the shoes of Rose Byrne’s Linda.

An awards-worthy performance of a mother on the edge, Byrne and director Mary Bronstein ensure you’re never quite exactly sure what’s going on and what’s going to happen next.

As Linda is thrown constant challenges and is being questioned by every character she comes across we get moments of terror, psychedelia, dark humour and nary a moment of relief.

Any time Linda, or we the audience, think there may just be a second of silence, a phone will ring, a door will knock or a character will demand something.

The constant noises seen and unseen and invasive camera keep you on edge and ingenious touches like leaving Linda’s daughter’s face obscured just keeps everything teetering on the edge of balance.

As mentioned, this is very much an experiential film with the ‘open to interpretation’ ending and unanswered questions that you would expect from the type.

You are party to the experiences of this character, rather than watching a traditional beginning-to-end narrative, and so, certainly, this won’t be a film for everybody.

It’s deliberately challenging, eye-opening, haunting and memorable and might leave you in a cold sweat once you leave the cinema.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️