This was the case in We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011), his best film, and in the incongruous You Weren’t Really Here (2017). Now, the director adopts the same approach in “Die, Love” to explain postpartum depression, and the result repeats the irregularity of her previous film.
The film’s events revolve around a married couple, Grace (Jennifer Lawrence) and Jackson (Robert Pattinson), who decide to move from New York to Montana. Life starts to get complicated when they have a child. Grace’s motherhood, instead of feeling like a blessing, turns into a spiral of madness.
The film doesn’t add anything new to the subject matter beyond what the director and co-writer of We Need to Talk About Kevin has already explored. For example, Marielle Heller’s Canina (2024) more appropriately deepens the discussion.
But at least “Die, Love” was a way for Jennifer Lawrence to give a visceral performance. She promised never to embark on intense and intimate projects again after “Mäe” (2017). But a potential Oscar nomination may have changed her mind.