Mary Bronstein’s second feature film “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” is probably one of the most intensely uncomfortable movie experiences I have ever had during this year. Closely and vividly sticking to the increasingly unstable mindset of one very troubled mother, the movie constantly unnerves us via a series of emotionally tense moments which will definitely make you wince and cringe a lot, but it firmly holds our attention to the end mainly thanks to the unforgettable lead performance at the center of the story.

During the opening part, the movie succinctly and effectively establishes how things have been quite stressful for its heroine. After her husband went somewhere due to his busy work, Linda (Rose Byrne) has to take care of their little young daughter alone by herself during next several weeks, but she is already on the verge of having a nervous breakdown for several understandable reasons. Her daughter, whose face is incidentally seldom shown throughout the film, needs constant care due to her eating disorder and the following medical treatment on that, and Linda surely needs some mental support as often getting exhausted from taking care of her daughter everyday, but she is frequently too busy for that. As a psychiatrist, she has to deal with her apparently problematic patients day by day, and she does not get much help from her own psychiatrist, who is incidentally one of the colleagues at her workplace.

On the top of all these and other things, another thing happens to cause more stress and confusion in Linda’s daily life. Not long after she returns to her family house along with her daughter, she belatedly discovers a very serious problem on the ceiling of her bedroom. As a result, she has no choice but to move to a nearby motel along with her daughter, and then she becomes quite frustrated with the rather slow response from the landlord of the house, who is going to be absent for a while due to a very important family matter.

And we see more of how things keep getting stressful for her in one way or another. While she often has to tolerate and handle her daughter’s occasionally unruly behaviors, Linda keeps getting demanded to attend a therapy session for mothers under similar mental pressure, but she is reluctant despite being constantly cornered by many tasks thrown upon her everyday. She usually cannot help but feel guilty about not being a model mother who can handle everything, but she also does not want to face her growing despair and frustration, while only blaming herself again and again.

Not so surprisingly, Linda gradually depends more and more on drinking, and, of course, that does not help her much. At least, she later finds some solace from a kind and sympathetic black lad staying at the same motel, but then there comes another serious trouble when she takes him to her family house just for showing that remaining big problem in the house.

This is just one of many bad choices made by Linda along the story, and you will surely shake your head more than once during your viewing just like I did a few hours ago. Nevertheless, we keep observing her painfully human responses and behaviors thanks to the vivid mood and details swirling around her downward spiral. Right from the beginning, the movie makes us accept and then immerse ourselves more into its heroine’s increasingly unhinged viewpoint, so we are not so surprised by several sudden delusional moments later in the story.

The overall result is definitely quite grueling for us to watch at times, but Bronstein’s screenplay never loses its empathy on Linda’s worsening mental implosion. Sure, she can be quite shrill and abrasive from time to time, but we come to understand more of what makes her tick so often, and there is a somber but undeniably harrowing scene where she eventually confides to her psychiatrist a bit of what has been tormenting her. She comes to grasp more of her impending mental issues, but she also really needs to be more honest and active for getting some real help instead of hiding behind her usual self-blame, and her adamant refusal and denial consequently lead to more problems to come.

This surely makes Linda look all the more unpleasant and unlikable, but we still cannot take our eyes away from her, because Rose Byrne, who deservedly received the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance when the movie was premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival early in this year, is fully committed in her uncompromising performance. Never making any cheap excuse on her achingly flawed human character, Byrne goes all the way for raw emotional intensity from the beginning to the end, and she also did a commendable job of bringing palpable human qualities to the story and her character. Thanks to her compelling efforts, the movie thankfully avoids becoming a mere misery porn, and she certainly deserve all the acclaims and awards she has received during the Oscar season of this year (She has already received the Best Actress awards from the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Board of Review, respectively).

While it can be said that Byrne’s lead performance is the whole show of the film, I must point out that several notable supporting performers have each small moment to shine. Danielle Macdonald, Christian Slater, and ASAP Rocky are well-cast in their respective supporting parts, and the special mention goes to Conan O’Brien, who, as Linda’s seemingly uncaring psychiatrist, demonstrates well here that he can ably dial down his comic persona for drama acting just like many other good comedians such as, say, Robin Williams.

In conclusion, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” is surely not something you can casually watch on Sunday afternoon, but it is worthwhile to watch for its considerable emotional intensity and the strong lead performance behind it. Although I have not watched her first feature film “Yeast” (2008) yet, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” shows me that Bronstein is another talented female filmmaker to watch, and it will be interesting to see what she will give us next after this powerful psychological drama film.