Director: Mary Bronstein

Stars: Rose Byrne, Conan O’Brien, A$AP Rocky, Mary Bronstien

Like Lynne Ramsay’s recent, harrowing ‘Die My Love’, writer-director-actor Bronstein’s picture is a harrowing look at fraught motherhood. Byrne is Linda, a therapist at the end of her tether. Her husband, a U.S. naval officer is away, and Linda is struggling to bring up a high-maintenance daughter with a mysterious illness. As well as her domestic and professional responsibilities, her daily life includes a long-running squabble with an officious car park attendant at the clinic where Linda is also testing the patience of her daughter’s doctor, Dr Spring (played by the director); quarrelling with her husband on the phone; and boundary-abusing sessions with a fellow therapist (an understated performance from Conan O’Brien). A hole in the ceiling of their apartment (symbolism ahoy) means Linda and her daughter must relocate to a seedy hotel, where she attracts the attention of young man James (an excellent A$AP Rocky). Bronstein orchestrates a symphony of assaultive sound design, jittery editing and poor decisions that mixes pitch black comedy with feverish anxiety-laden horror. Byrne is fearless and raw as the brittle, frayed Linda, but the wilfully shrill, abrasive tone renders this a very challenging watch at nearly two hours.

David Willoughby

Follow David on Bluesky @davidwilloughby.bsky.social