Die My Love: Exploring Mad Love and Mental Illness
Starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson, director Lynne Ramsay’s latest film has been somewhat misleadingly marketed as a drama about postpartum depression. In reality, it is a morbid comedy that shows how everyday life can drive anyone to the brink of insanity, according to film critic Sean Burns.
“We all go a little loopy the first year,”
a kindly Sissy Spacek tells Jennifer Lawrence’s struggling young mother in Die My Love. This understatement contrasts sharply with the film’s intense depiction of blood, fire, and psychosis, characteristic of Ramsay’s nerve-shredding style.
The Glaswegian director is known for portraying psychological breakdowns from the inside, immersing viewers in the haunted minds of her characters. Examples include Samantha Morton’s grief-numbed girlfriend in Ramsay’s 2002 film Morvern Callar and Joaquin Phoenix’s PTSD-affected vigilante in her 2018 picture You Were Never Really Here.
Based loosely on Ariana Harwicz’s 2012 novel, Die My Love stars Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson as Grace and Jackson, a cool, hard-partying couple from New York City. They move into a dilapidated country house formerly owned by Jackson’s uncle, navigating a toxic relationship set against a disintegrating mental landscape.
Author's summary: Lynne Ramsay’s Die My Love is a darkly humorous yet disturbing look at mental collapse, blending love and madness within a raw, psychological tale.