The film is about a woman who unravels after the birth of her child as she descends into madness putting strain into her relationship with her boyfriend months after they move to Montana. It is a film that is an exploration of post-partum depression as well as a woman coming to terms with the reality of this new change in her life. The film’s screenplay by Lynne Ramsay, Edna Walsh, and Alice Birch does not have a conventional narrative as there is a flashback scene as well as elements of surrealism. It is more of a character study where the script explores the couple in Grace (Jennifer Lawrence) and Jackson (Robert Pattinson) as they arrive in rural Montana away from New York City to start a new life at the latter’s childhood home near where his parents live. When Grace becomes pregnant, there is a lot of excitement but its aftermath in which they have a baby born with a name to be determined. Things start to fall apart with Jackson often away at work and not understanding her mental and emotional state.
Even as Grace begins to suspect that Jackson is cheating on her after finding condoms in the glove compartment of their car where he often arriving home late. Jackson would attempt to smooth things over in buying a dog, which would prove to be a poor decision considering they have a baby to take care of. It only adds to the tension and Grace’s own mental issues as she turns to Jackson’s mother Pam (Sissy Spacek) who is also going through own issues including sleepwalking with a shotgun. The script also play into elements of surrealism as it relates to a mysterious man in a motorcycle named Karl (Lakeith Stanfield) that Grace is aware of to deal with Jackson’s affairs with other women. Grace’s encounters with Karl play into her own sexual desires, which is not getting at home to the point that she would act in a feral manner while struggling to raise her newborn son.
Ramsay’s direction is entrancing in the way it captures a woman succumbing to madness as it opens with a long shot of Grace and Jackson entering the latter’s childhood that once belonged to his uncle as it is this simple static medium-wide shot that goes on for a few minutes. Shot on a 1:33:1 aspect ratio and on location in province of Alberta in Canada as Montana, Ramsay uses the aspect ratio to create this sense of claustrophobia that help play into Grace’s madness as she become suffocated by the changes in her life as well as the lack of control in being a new mother. While there are some wide shots that are presented in the film including scenes in a car whenever she and Jackson are on the road. Much of Ramsay’s direction is emphasized on close-ups and medium shots to play into Grace’s mental deterioration and her relationship with Jackson falling apart. Even as there are montages where Grace would be alone at the house with her baby as music would blare loudly and it is the same song.
Ramsay also delves into elements of surrealism that includes a strange meeting with Jackson’s late father Harry (Nick Nolte) whom she is dancing with in the forest at night as he is seen previously in a flashback as he has dementia. Some of these scenes at night are surreal, including a shot that followed the film’s opening shot of a forest fire. It is among these moments in the film that play into Grace’s own descent while a few scenes in which Grace and Jackson are in a gathering show the sense of discomfort the former begins to have where she would slowly unravel. There are also these abrupt and shocking moments of violence that play into Grace’s descent into madness as the third act forces Jackson to realize that she needs help. The third act is not just about the realization of what Grace is dealing with but also an understanding about a world that expects too much from her. Whether it is in being a writer, a wife, a mother, a lover, or anything else as it becomes overwhelming to the point that there is only one path to go. Overall, Ramsay crafts a visceral and unflinching film about a woman’s descent into madness following the birth of her child.
Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its colorful and stylish photography for many of the daytime interior/exterior scenes as well as the usage of bluish filters for the exterior scenes at night. Editor Toni Froschhammer, along with additional work by Adam Biskupski, does excellent work with the editing as her usage of montages, jump-cuts, and other stylish cuts help play into sense of mania that looms throughout the film. Production designer Tim Grimes, along with set decorator Amber Humphries and art director Amanda Nicholson, does amazing work with the look of Jackson’s home as well as a place made for a party in the film’s third act. Costume designer Catherine George does terrific work with costumes where it is casual apart from a party scene where they wear stylish clothing.
The special effects work of Lindsey Dietz, along with visual effects supervisors James Frislev, Koray Guzey, Victor Tomi, and Mehmet Kurtulus Tuncer, is fantastic for some of the visuals such as the forest fire and a few other bits to play into Grace’s encounter with surrealism. Sound designer Tim Burns does incredible work with the sound as it help play into the atmosphere that include sparse sounds of flies flying around the house as well as how music is presented on location as it is a highlight of the film. The film’s music by Lynne Ramsay, George Vjestica, Ben Frost, and music supervisor Raife Burchell is superb as it features original music from Ramsay, Vjestica, and Frost who provide a mixture of score music ranging from ambient music to noisy rock along with a cover of Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart. The soundtrack supervised by Frost features a diverse music soundtrack from Toni Basil, Billie Holiday, Eels, the Cocteau Twins, Cream, David Bowie, Raffi, Tom Philips & D.T.S., Peggy Lipton, Elvis Presley, Shirley Ellis, Pinky and Perky, and an inspired usage of the John Prine & Iris Dement duet of In Spite of Ourselves.
The casting by Lucy Pardee is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles from Sarah McPherson as a cashier who annoys Grace, Gabrielle Rose and Debs Howard as a couple of old ladies who are friends of Pam, Sarah Lind as an acquaintance of Jackson and Grace in Jen who does share Grace’s own issues with motherhood, and the duo of Kennedy and Victoria Calderwood as Grace and Jackson’s unnamed baby. Lakeith Stanfield is superb as the mysterious man named Karl who rides a motorcycle as he is drawn to Grace leading to an affair at a farm. Nick Nolte is brilliant as Jackson’s father Harry as he only appears in 3 scenes such as a flashback of a man dealing with dementia and in a couple of surreal moments where he is the one man who really understands Grace. Sissy Spacek is amazing as Jackson’s mother Pam as a woman dealing with grief as well as her own issues as a woman where she is wise as well as eccentric considering she sleepwalks with a shotgun.
Robert Pattinson is excellent as Jackson as a man that is trying to deal with Grace’s depression the best way he can though he makes some awful decision where Pattinson brings some great facial expressions to showcase his anger as he is a man that clueless at times but also frustrated in his ability to understand what his partner is going through. Finally, there is Jennifer Lawrence in a performance for the ages as Grace as a writer who is struggling with post-partum depression where Lawrence goes all out in terms of her physicality and in displaying the sense of rage and madness her character goes through. It is a performance that can be described as raw and primal in terms of the ferality her character starts to act where she even becomes indifferent in some stages as it relates to her relationship with Jackson where Lawrence has this air of danger and fragility that play into a woman coming undone.
Die My Love is a magnificent film by Lynne Ramsay that features a tremendous leading performance from Jennifer Lawrence. Along with its ensemble cast, eerie visuals, its raw take on post-partum depression and madness, stylish presentation, and a blistering music soundtrack. It is a film that does not play it safe in its depiction of post-partum depression and madness while also being this study of a woman lost in a reality that does not understand her pain. In the end, Die My Love is an outstanding film by Lynne Ramsay.
Lynne Ramsay Films: Ratcatcher - Morvern Callar - We Need to Talk About Kevin - You Were Never Really Here - (Polaris)
Related: The Auteurs #6: Lynne Ramsay - Favorite Films #9: Morvern Callar
© thevoid99 2025
No comments:
Post a Comment