Die My Love Review: Jennifer Lawrence Shines in Lynne Ramsay's Intense Drama
Lynne Ramsay returns with a raw, visceral drama about motherhood, featuring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson. There is a wild energy that pulses through Die My Love, evident from the opening scene where Grace and Jackson, played by Lawrence and Pattinson, crawl through tall grass like predators stalking vulnerable prey.
This intense film adapts Ariana Harwicz’s 2012 novel, portraying a couple driven by hunger—hungry for love, sex, and a fresh start as they move to his uncle’s dilapidated, secluded house. They soon have a baby, and the drastic transformation reduces Grace to primal survival: feeding, changing nappies, and sleeping.
Despite Grace's ambitions to write a novel and Jackson’s dreams of recording an album, neither come to fruition. Instead, Grace’s mental state deteriorates, and her raw instincts dominate. She dances alone in her underwear, roams her home holding a knife, and resorts to masturbation when idle. The vast space she inhabits, framed tightly in a claustrophobic Academy ratio, feels more like a prison than a refuge.
Lynne Ramsay reaffirms herself as one of our foremost observers of humanity.
This powerful portrayal reveals the haunting isolation and unraveling of identity after childbirth, anchored by Jennifer Lawrence’s striking performance.
Author's summary: Jennifer Lawrence delivers a mesmerizing and primal performance in Lynne Ramsay’s intimate portrayal of motherhood, capturing the raw psychological struggles behind new parenthood.