On paper, it seemed like a perfect marriage. Ariana Harwicz’s 2018 Man Booker International Prize-winning novel, Die My Love, spins on the feral urges of a new mother losing her mind after moving to the countryside with her partner. Who better – you might think – to cinematically immerse us in this spiralling state than Lynne Ramsay, the Scottish photographer turned filmmaker behind Ratcatcher (1999), Movern Callar (2002), We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) and You Were Never Really Here (2017), all hypnotic films that paint intense psychological states using images that feel ripped from dreams and nightmares. Add to the mix Jennifer Lawrence in her meatiest role since descending into hell in Mother! (2017) and surely this is a contender for the best film in the Cannes competition lineup. Alas, this adaptation lacks cohesion and ends up less than the sum of its parts.
Grace (Lawrence) and Jackson (Robert Pattinson) relocate from New York to a remote rural location after Jackson’s uncle dies in violent circumstances, leaving behind his house. Soon she is pregnant. Shortly thereafter, Grace’s beloved father-in-law, Harry (Nick Nolte), dies. This is relayed elliptically, as Ramsay cuts between timelines, crafting bombastic vignettes in which sound and fury bubble over: a forest fire, Grace and Jackson thrashing to music, Harry breaking a bottle.
