She's Got Those Baby Blues

Film: Die My Love
Format: DVD from Sycamore Public Library on gigantic television.

Remember a few years ago when Jennifer Lawrence was the flavor of the month? It was right around 2012 when she was in both The Hunger Games and Silver Linings Playbook, even though her real coming out party in Hollywood was her role in Winter’s Bone. She’s not that anymore, which is probably a good thing. In a sense, she has the ability to do what actors like Daniel Radcliffe and Kristen Stewart have—she can basically do what she wants and take whatever roles she feels like. That brings us to Die My Love, which is essentially a movie about post-partum depression.

Another person who has that same ability to pick projects that they want because they don’t really have to worry about their career is Lawrence’s co-star for this film, Robert Pattinson. Why am I talking about this? Because it’s important to have these people in the industry so that films like this get made. Die My Love was never going to be a box office smash. You need people who don’t care about how much money a film will make, who might even be willing to take scale for a film that has less big hit appeal but much more artistic credibility.

Jackson (Pattinson) and Grace (Lawrence) move to Montana when Jackson inherits a house from his uncle. The house is in terrible shape and in the middle of nowhere, but it’s free and Grace is pregnant, so it makes sense to them to move. Shortly thereafter, Grace gives birth to their son, who remains unnamed. Things are fine initially, but Jackson spends more and more time away from home and Grace becomes more and more distraught, feeling abandoned and alone. When she finds condoms in Jackson’s car, her feelings of abandonment increase.

We get some flashbacks to the months before the birth, which includes the death of Jackson’s father Harry (Nick Nolte). Grace also finds out from Jackson’s mother (Sissy Spacek) that Jackson’s uncle killed himself in the house that they are living in. Grace’s life becomes more overwhelming when Jackson comes home with an untrained dog that barks constantly. The fact that he is rarely home means the dog and its constant barking becomes her problem as well.

Grace becomes more and more erratic, and her behavior becomes more violent and disturbing. She begins an affair with a stranger (Lakeith Stanfield) and despite her problems with Jackson, agrees to marry him. This doesn’t help, and Grace’s mental dissolution continues, culminating with Jackson having her committed to a mental health facility.

Die My Love is not an easy watch. It’s not gory, and while there are moments of violence, these are often self-inflicted and not terribly upsetting in the “lots of blood and broken bones” sense. But this is a film that is clearly depicting a woman spiraling in her mental health, trapped in a world where nothing seems right, she feels alone and abandoned and unable to do anything to pull herself out of that spiral. At a party late in the film, a woman asks her what she is doing and Grace’s response is that essentially she is moving between wanting to do something and wanting to do absolutely nothing at all.

The film is relentless in its depiction of Grace’s slide into dark mental places. It is also unrelenting in showing us how the people around her are reacting to what she is going through—the concern, the pitying stares, and what clearly feels to Grace like insincere attempts at cheering her up or making her feel as if she is getting her life back on track. At one point, released from the hospital, Grace is constantly told by everyone how much better and healthier she looks. People are clearly trying to help her and help her self-esteem, but the constant reminder of where she was mentally is exactly that—a constant reminder of her ill health in the past, which soon becomes overwhelming.

I like Jennifer Lawrence just fine, even during that period when it felt like she was in everything and she was over-exposed. It’s good to see her doing something like this, where the film is clearly about the performance and about something worth talking about. This is probably the best she has been since Winter’s Bone, in large part because this is about the performance, not the box office. She probably should have been Oscar-nominated for this, but Rose Byrne already took the "overwhelmed woman dealing with a child in a film that wasn't nommed fro Best Picture" slot. The same can be said of Pattinson. It’s an interesting role for him. Pattinson has made a career playing weirdos and oddballs. Jackson is actually pretty normal, and in large part, it makes this a really interesting performance from him.

Die My Love is the sort of film that you’re going to be happy to have seen, but not an easy film to recommend because of the subject matter and the intensity of the film.

Why to watch Die My Love : It might be the best representation of post-partum depression and a slide into madness in a very long time.
Why not to watch: The same reason. Post-partum depression isn’t fun.