Review: ‘Die My Love’ is a primal scream of maternal rage

Review: ‘Die My Love’ is a Primal Scream of Maternal Rage

Jennifer Lawrence stars as a new mother struggling to hold on to her sanity, her behavior becoming increasingly wild and unpredictable. Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay’s long-awaited fifth feature, Die My Love, raises a provocative question amid a mental health crisis: can a wild woman be tamed? While the film hints at an answer early on, the audience only discovers it as the story unfolds.

The story follows a young couple, Grace (Jennifer Lawrence) and Jackson (Robert Pattinson), who move into a new home and begin their life together. What follows is so chaotic and unforeseen that it almost obscures the fact that the ending was inevitable.

A Collaboration of Bold Women

Die My Love is the result of a creative partnership among three daring women: Jennifer Lawrence, who stars and produces; writer Ariana Harwicz, whose 2012 novel Matate, amor explores a young mother's unraveling in rural France; and Lynne Ramsay, a visionary filmmaker known for her intense imagery and her exploration of despair and joy. Ramsay adapted the novel alongside Enda Walsh and Alice Birch and directed the film with Lawrence leading the cast.

The film is "a ragged primal scream of a film — not a cry for help, but rather, a bellow of maternal rage."

Setting and Symbolism

The couple moves into Jackson’s late Uncle Frank’s old house, a decrepit and abandoned space filled with both potential and decay. Jackson encourages Grace to write “the great American novel,” while he considers recording an album, symbolizing hope and creativity amid their troubled existence. The house becomes the backdrop for their fragile new life, including caring for their baby, Harry.

Author's summary: This intense film captures the raw, volatile emotional landscape of a new mother’s unraveling, portrayed through a powerful collaboration of fearless women in storytelling and direction.

Chicago Tribune — 2025-11-07