“Die My Love” Is Smaller Than Life

“Die My Love” Is Smaller Than Life

Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson strive to ground this intense story of marriage and motherhood in realism. Sometimes, not knowing can be a blessing—like when I watched Lynne Ramsay’s “Die My Love” last week without realizing it was adapted from a novel.

Throughout the film, I felt a growing frustration: the story seemed to sidestep the inner world of its protagonist, Grace, played by Jennifer Lawrence. Later, I read Jia Tolentino’s profile of Lawrence in this magazine, where she mentions the source novel by Argentine writer Ariana Harwicz.

The book, quoted in the profile, is a first-person account—intimate, confessional, and burning with emotion.

Reading those lines, I sensed the shadow of a deeper, stronger film hidden beneath the one I saw. It suggested that the movie’s emptiness came from a core failure to adapt Harwicz’s voice. Still, I hesitate to call “Die My Love” completely misguided, since its focus remains on Grace’s psychological turmoil after childbirth.

As the film begins, Grace and her husband Jackson, portrayed by Robert Pattinson, move into an old rural house—once owned by his late uncle Frank, who had taken his own life.

Author’s Summary

This introspective review contrasts the emotional depth of Ariana Harwicz’s novel with Lynne Ramsay’s restrained adaptation, highlighting a film haunted by its unrealized potential.

more

The New Yorker The New Yorker — 2025-11-04

More News