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By Keith Walther | Rose Law Group Reporter
If the goal is to alienate, disgust, and outright annoy the audience, this film succeeds in spades. “Die My Love” is a psychological drama based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Ariana Harwicz, which had no business being adapted to film in the first place. Despite the Oscar level talent in front of the camera, the plot resembles the sidewalk outside a bar in the New Orleans French Quarter at 3am.
Leaving the city life in favor of a remote house somewhere in Montana, Grace (Jennifer Lawrence) and Jackson (Robert Pattinson) are an amorous couple who enjoy mating by acting like tigers…yes, tigers. After birthing her first child, Grace develops postpartum depression that worsens by Jackson’s continual absence and infidelity. Even though Jackson’s parents live close by, they have their own issues with Harry (Nick Nolte) suffering from dementia and Pam (Sissy Spacek) randomly sleepwalking with a gun. As Grace’s mind continues to slip, so too does the narrative, making the audience feel just as trapped as she does.
If this film proves anything, it’s that writer/director Lynne Ramsay must have a deep seeded hatred for audiences. For one thing, the narrative is a schizophrenic mess, incoherently jumping all over the place from one timeline to another that serves no other purpose than to confuse viewers. Granted, the effect is used to convey Grace’s perspective, but there are much better ways to accomplish this that don’t detract from watchability. For another, Ramsay goes out of her way to annoy viewers using sounds such as the incessant buzzing of flies or continuous dog barking that completely distract from the limited story being told. Then there’s her pretentious attempt at artistic style that turns the whole production into convoluted, self-important, self-absorbed filth that critics will convince themselves to enjoy because they want to prove that they understand art. Splattering a bunch of weird, purposeless scenes of urinating, masturbation, and animalistic behavior onto the screen is not art.
If the goal is to show how common and difficult postpartum depression can be for new mothers, that is certainly commendable since it is not well represented in film but displaying it like this in such an incoherent way will not gain it any meaningful exposure. When the almost halfway point arrives in the film and the audience is still wondering what on earth this movie is about, active disengagement begins to occur. The only sense the viewers get are that these characters are just weird with their strange dancing rituals, sexual proclivities, and social awkwardness. By the time something actually starts to happen in the movie, nobody is left to care.
Ramsay’s poor direction misuses and wastes quality performances from Oscar winners and nominees alike. Jennifer Lawrence, the 2013 Best Actress winner for “Silver Linings Playbook,” does a fine job of portraying a character with mental illness, exploding into random action that will take viewers by surprise. Without having a single likeable trait, however, she’s unable to connect her character with the audience, leaving them despondent and ambivalent.
This is another eccentric character for Robert Pattinson, who has shown some serious acting chops in films like “The Lighthouse” and “Mickey 17” earlier this year. Again, he rises to the challenge, but he’s even more unlikable than Lawrence, not to mention there’s no real chemistry established with her, making their pairing highly unbelievable. It’s always a bonus to see veteran actors like Nick Nolte and Sissy Spacek in a movie, but they’re relegated to unimportant and ineffectual roles that do nothing to further the story. In fact, Nolte only has a couple lines before he’s gone from the movie. LaKeith Stanfield, who also has maybe one or two lines, additionally serves no real purpose in the film other than to try seducing the main character.
To say this film is a chore to sit through and endure would be a drastic understatement. “Die My Love” is simply torture for the eyes and ears, making you want to gouge your eyes out as you beg for a merciful end to the unrelenting assault of pointlessness. Like “Honey Don’t!,” “Him,” and “Hurry Up Tomorrow” earlier this year, this film once again proves how important it is to have a cohesive narrative.
This movie earns:
