If I Had Legs I’d Kick You sends viewers on an anxiety ridden journey and boasts an incredible performance from Rose Byrne.
Going into If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, I had no idea what I was in for. As a mother, who often finds herself stressed out and doing far too much, I related to this movie in ways that I never expected to. Due to the choice to film the majority of the movie as close up shots of lead Rose Byrne’s face, viewers will find themselves anxious from the start. We are put in her shoes and because of this, it is easy to find outselves on this journey with her, for better or worse.
The premise of the film is that Linda (Rose Byrne) has a lot on her plate. Her husband is away and she is left to care for their sick child all by herself. On top of that, she is a therapist so she is shouldering a lot of other people’s problems. When a disaster strikes their apartment, forcing them to move into a hotel while it gets fixed, she is pushed past her limits. What follows is her day to day struggle, a lot of looking inward, and dark secret confessions.
At one point in the film, Rose Byrne says something along the lines of that she knows she should be putting her oxygen mask on first, alluding to the fact that she needs to take care of herself in order to take care of her daughter. This line in particular hit me really hard. It is something I try to tell myself, and yet I struggle with it at times. I am always putting others, espeically my children, first, and that can lead you down a dangerous road.
One of the biggest surprises of If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is Conan O’Brien. He plays Linda’s therapist and honestly, I expected him to be providing the comedic relief of the film. While some of his scenes did make me chuckle, he really is giving a dramatic performance here, something we rarely, if ever, see from him. He is absolutey incredible in this and I hope to see him take on more roles like this.
There are some parts of the story being told that are on the stranger, more bizarre, side. While they never really took me out of the movie, I did find myself wondering if they were necessary. I get the metaphor, which is hard to talk about without spoilers, and appreciate it, but just going through life with Linda was enough to have me all the way in on this one, so the supernatural type parts were not needed.
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is sure to cause anxiety in everyone watching. Because of that I can absolutely understand why it is not for everyone. At the same time, those who are not parents might not fully grasp all that it is trying to say.
For me, this movie really did a number on me. Rose Byrne needed to carry it from start to finish, because the focus is so much on her, and she does a phenomenal job. Even though my stress is not to the same level that she is dealing with, I have never felt more seen. What that says about me? I don’t know. But I do know I love this movie.
About If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
With her life crashing down around her, Linda (Rose Byrne) attempts to navigate her child’s mysterious illness, her absent husband, a missing person, and an increasingly hostile relationship with her therapist.
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You comes to theaters October 10th.
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If I Had Legs I'd Kick You sends viewers on an anxiety ridden journey and boasts an incredible performance from Rose Byrne.
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Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. On Camera personality and TV / Film Critic with 10+ years of experience in video editing, writing, editing, moderating, and hosting.