In Die My Love, a new mother slowly unravels as she’s crushed by loneliness and boredom in her new home.
Grace (Jennifer Lawrence) and Jackson (Robert Pattinson) are madly in love when they leave New York to move back to his hometown in Montana. He’s excited to return, while she’s thrilled to be with him. Unfortunately, she finds little inspiration in her new surroundings and is unable to write a single word. Soon, she gives birth to their first child, which becomes the centre of her world. But that world is gradually shrinking into insignificance. Jackson is away for work most of the week, leaving her alone with no friends or sense of direction. Outside of caring for the baby, Grace retreats from normalcy and begins to show signs that she might be losing her grip on reality.
The film is adapted from a book of the same name by Argentine author Ariana Harwicz. However, the novel is all interior monologue and the movie doesn’t even have a narrator. Instead, Lawrence’s emotions explode from her actions and expressions.
Her commitment to the role is notable. Trapped in her rural home, the camera doesn’t exist. Grace literally dances like no one is watching. As her unhappiness grows, her body appears heavy, as if her depression has a physical weight that hinders her movements.
Meanwhile, Pattinson is understated as Jackson struggles with his inability to give Grace what she needs. How he and Lawrence react to each other as their relationship collapses is the distressed heart of the film.
Over the course of the movie, it becomes more difficult to determine what’s real and what’s an invention of Grace’s delusions. Is Jackson having sex with truck stop waitresses? Are Grace’s trysts with a mystery motorcyclist just masturbatory fantasy? Her mind is a difficult place to be, but the visualization of her emotional state is stirring.
Director: Lynne Ramsay
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattinson and Sissy Spacek
