Shauna Young reviews Die My Love, a film that portrays the harrowing reality of life of a mother suffering with postpartum depression.
Lynne Ramsay’s Die My Love (2025) intensely paints the portrait of nearly every human emotion possible. The film depicts love, hate, anger, absence, jealousy, the list goes on and on. Jennifer Lawrence stands strong in the leading role, delivering a breathtaking and ferocious performance as Grace, accompanied by Robert Pattinson playing the role of her husband, Jackson. The film, adapted from Ariana Harwicz’s novel of the same title, portrays the true, raw emotion behind post-partum psychosis through Grace’s eyes. This allows the viewers to get an insight into her mind as she goes through the motions following childbirth.
The opening scenes of the film instantly set the tone, emphasizing underlying emotions that strengthen and metastasize as the film progresses. At first, Grace and Jackson’s relationship is extremely charged with passion, raw emotions, impulsive and dangerous behaviour, and perceived true devotion and care. Following the birth of their child however, the change is almost immediate. Grace’s behaviour becomes increasingly surreal throughout the scenes, as she is pictured crawling through the fields around their home with a knife by her side. She drifts between realities in her mind, mixing hallucinations with the real world. Jennifer Lawrence excels in the emotional core of this portrayal. Her character’s loosening grip on reality is rendered with absolute conviction and there is no hesitance in her commitment to Grace.
Robert Pattinson as Jackson embodies a perfect portrayal of a personality that harnesses no awareness to anything outside of his individual needs and wants. A pivotal moment for the audience's perception of his character is formed when Jackson brings home a dog, despite Grace expressing her wish for a cat. While it may seem like a minor throwaway comment from Grace at the time, this moment offers an intense insight into Jackson’s emotional stubbornness and his unwillingness to compromise.
While not necessarily an antagonist, Jackson in no way makes a major effort to empathise or help Grace. Instead of acknowledging the severity of his wife’s deteriorating mental state, Jackson appears to consider the issue as a ‘phase’, something that will simply improve with time. The two bounce off each other in intense, near overwhelming ways, Jackson often acting as the gasoline to Grace’s already immense fire.
In terms of direction, Lynne Ramsay can be regarded as unflinching in her choices. The lack of clarity in the difference between reality and imagination serves both the story and acting in phenomenal ways. Cast and crew are pushed to their limits throughout the course of the film, right down to cinematographer Seamus McGarvey’s inventive use of the aspect ratio.
The moments of humor rarely invite real laughter, instead cultivating an uneasy sense of dark comedy through domestic absurdity and sudden and intense bursts of anger. There is a kind of energy that disarms and chills the audience which is present throughout. This is explored through the choices made not only by Grace, but by the interactions she has with every other character.
While it may be perceived as a repetitive sequence of events, to those who have experienced or witnessed post-partum psychosis, this film takes up residence as one of the best portrayals of the condition in the media. The subject matter is treated with both respect and honesty, delivering truth with no lingering sense of shame. Ramsay and Lawrence form a powerhouse director-actor duo, staying true to the source material and completely committed to the psychological aspects of the piece. There exists no watering down of the condition, with the whole film showcasing how chaotic and visceral an experience it is. This is a film that demands empathy, patience and awareness.
Die My Love is not just a film that undertakes a phenomenal character study; it is a film that probes the reality of life alongside the messiness and unrelenting nature of the human psyche, driven by one of the year’s most daring performances.