If I Had Legs I'd Kick You
3ms
In a world teetering on the brink, where the weight of responsibility becomes a crushing force, a new psychological drama emerges. "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You," a 2025 American film, directed and written by Mary Bronstein, plunges into the heart of a mother's unraveling. Starring the formidable Rose Byrne, alongside Conan O'Brien, Danielle Macdonald, Christian Slater, and ASAP Rocky, this is a story that will grip you and refuse to let go.
It premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, a beacon of independent cinema, and then shone at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival, where Rose Byrne's raw and powerful performance earned her the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance. Prepare for its domestic release by A24 on October 10, 2025.
Linda, a therapist, finds her own life mirroring the crises she confronts daily. Her daughter battles a severe eating disorder, requiring nightly feeding through a PEG tube, a ritual that amplifies Linda's already overwhelming stress. When a catastrophic ceiling collapse floods their Montauk apartment, and her husband, Charles, is away on an extended work trip, Linda is forced to relocate her daughter to a dilapidated motel.
Charles’s calls offer no solace, only criticism and a stark lack of support. Professionally, Linda’s clients are in turmoil, including Caroline, a new mother who abandons her baby mid-session. Desperate, Linda turns to her own therapist for help, but her increasingly erratic behavior and repeated crossing of professional boundaries lead to her dismissal.
At the motel, Linda encounters Diana, a cynical clerk, and James, the superintendent, a man who will become an unlikely source of both comfort and chaos. He helps her procure drugs online and offers a fragile emotional connection to her daughter, but their relationship is a tempestuous dance of complicated support and ultimate strain.
Later, Caroline reappears, only to slap Linda and flee when refused further assistance. When Linda learns her daughter can no longer meet the weight requirements for PEG tube removal, she takes her daughter home, removes the tube herself, and then hallucinates the surgical wound miraculously closing.
Returning to her apartment, Linda finds Charles has unexpectedly returned and fixed the ceiling. She tries to conceal her daughter's absence, but James betrays her confidence, revealing the truth to Charles. Upon seeing the removed feeding tube, Linda flees to the ocean, attempting to end her life. She awakens to her daughter’s gaze, a whispered promise hanging in the air: "I will get better."
The film's compelling cast includes Rose Byrne as Linda, Conan O'Brien as Linda's therapist, Danielle Macdonald as the troubled mother Caroline, Christian Slater as Linda's distant husband Charles, and A$AP Rocky as the enigmatic motel superintendent James.
Filming took place in August and September 2023 in Montauk, New York, a testament to the film's commitment to authenticity, even amidst industry challenges.
"If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" will also be showcased at the 52nd Telluride Film Festival, the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, the 2025 New York Film Festival, and the 2025 BFI London Film Festival, before its A24 release on October 10, 2025. It will also be featured in the 'Best of 2025' section of the 20th Rome Film Festival.
Critics are already hailing it as a triumph. On Rotten Tomatoes, a staggering 94% of reviews are positive, with the consensus describing it as a "fever dream immersion into parental stress" that "connects with thunderous force." Metacritic echoes this sentiment, awarding it a score of 77 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. This is a film that dares to explore the darkest corners of the human psyche, and it does so with unflinching honesty.
If I Had Legs I'd Kick You is a 2025 American psychological drama film, written and directed by Mary Bronstein. It stars Rose Byrne, Conan O'Brien, Danielle Macdonald, Christian Slater and ASAP Rocky.
The film had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2025. At the 75th Berlin International Film Festival, Byrne won the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance. It received a domestic release by A24 on October 10, 2025.
== Plot ==
Linda is a therapist stretched to her limits while caring for her daughter, who is suffering from an eating disorder. The daughter must be fed through a PEG tube each night, and her demands add to Linda's immense stress. The family's situation takes a turn for the worse when the bedroom ceiling of their Montauk apartment collapses and floods the house. With her largely absent husband Charles away on a two-month work trip, Linda is forced to move with her daughter into a shabby motel.
Charles only calls to complain and criticize her, offering no genuine support. Professionally, Linda is surrounded by clients in crisis, including Caroline, a new mother who abandons her baby mid-session. Linda seeks help from her own colleague therapist due to her own personal problems. However, he is increasingly exasperated by her behavior and eventually declines her as a patient after she repeatedly crosses professional boundaries. While living in the motel, Linda meets Diana, a snarky clerk, and her neighbor James, a motel superintendent who becomes an unlikely source of comfort and chaos. James helps her score drugs online and offers emotional support to her daughter, but their relationship is complicated and ultimately strained.
Caroline later appears at her home but then slaps Linda and runs away after being refused help. Later, when told that her daughter cannot make the necessary weight for her PEG tube to be removed, Linda takes her daughter home and removes the PEG tube and then hallucinates the surgical hole closing. When Linda heads back to her apartment, she discovers that Charles has suddenly returned home and repaired the hole in the ceiling. She attempts to hide the fact that she left their child alone, but James tells Charles the truth. When Charles sees that Linda removed the feeding tube, Linda runs to the ocean and attempts to drown herself. Linda wakes up with her daughter looking at her and says that she will get better.
== Cast ==
Rose Byrne as Linda
Conan O'Brien as Linda's therapist
Danielle Macdonald as Caroline, a mother who abandons her newborn baby
Christian Slater as Charles, Linda's husband
A$AP Rocky as James, motel superintendent
Delaney Quinn as Linda's daughter
Ivy Wolk as Diana, a motel clerk
Mary Bronstein as Dr. Spring
Daniel Zolghadri as Stephen
Ronald Bronstein as Caroline's husband
Lark White as Vanessa
Josh Pais as Brad
Eva Kornet as herself
Mark Stolzenberg as a clinic parking attendant
Helen Hong as Eva
Ella Beatty as Kate
Manu Narayan as Landlord
Amy Judd Lieberman as Melanie
== Production ==
If I Had Legs I'd Kick You began filming in August and September 2023 in Montauk, New York after SAG-AFTRA granted an interim agreement for the film amidst the actors' strike.
== Release ==
If I Had Legs I'd Kick You premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2025. It had its international premiere in February 2025 at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival in competition for the Golden Bear. Rose Byrne won the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance. It will be screened at the 52nd Telluride Film Festival, the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, the 2025 New York Film Festival, and the 2025 BFI London Film Festival. The film was released by A24 on October 10, 2025.
It will be screened in the 'Best of 2025' section of the 20th Rome Film Festival in October 2025.
== Reception ==
=== Critical reception ===
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 154 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Liable to leave audiences in a cold sweat, this fever dream immersion into parental stress connects with thunderous force thanks to Rose Byrne's gutsy star turn and director Mary Bronstein's uncompromising vision." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 77 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
=== Accolades ===
== References ==
== External links ==
If I Had Legs I'd Kick You at Rotten Tomatoes
If I Had Legs I'd Kick You at IMDb
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