Writer-director Mary Bronstein (Yeast) helms this story about Linda (Rose Byrne), a psychotherapist whose personal and professional responsibilities leave her on the brink of a nervous breakdown. In between work, she cares for her daughter (Delaney Quinn) who’s got a pediatric eating disorder requiring a feeding tube and daily hospital visits. Her ship captain husband, Charles (Christian Slater), is at sea and dismissive and unsupportive. Their apartment floods and becomes unlivable, forcing Linda and her daughter into a shabby motel run by snotty clerk Diana (Ivy Wolk) and James (A$AP Rocky), the motel superintendent. Linda’s own therapist (Conan O’Brien) is unhelpful and judgy. And Linda’s got a challenging client, Caroline (Danielle Macdonald), a new mother suffering from paranoia and postpartum anxiety. She’s overwhelmed. (113 min.)
IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU
What’s it rated? R
What’s it worth, Anna? Full Price
What’s it worth, Glen? Full price
Where’s it showing? HBO Max
Glen Since this time of year is a bit of dumping ground for mediocre films in theaters, and because we missed some of the Oscar contenders like this one, we decided to look back at this October 2025 release since it’s now streaming, and it’s weird and wonderful. Lead actress Rose Byrne is nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award for it, and she’s in a very competitive field that includes Emma Stone from Bugonia, Jessie Buckley from Hamnet, Kate Hudson from Song Sung Blue, and Renate Reinsve in the Norwegian film Sentimental Value. Byrne is incredible here. You can feel her fraying and becoming increasingly brittle. The entire cast is good, but this is the Rose Byrne show, and she never lets up. It’s riveting. This also marks her very first Oscar nomination. She already took home the Golden Globe for this performance, but her fiercest Oscar competition may be Stone, who won for La La Land (2016) and Poor Things (2023) but also turned in an emotionally complex performance last year. We still need to watch the other films.
Anna The film is shot in a very interesting way. While we hear and see slivers of Linda’s daughter, the focus is all on Byrne. Her angry husband is heard over the phone but never seen. She’s adrift and alone, staying in a crappy motel close to the children’s hospital where her daughter is getting treatment. The machines that keep her daughter alive whir and buzz all night long, and Linda turns to finding the bottom of a bottle of wine as her nightly escape. This isn’t a fun watch, but it certainly is a powerful one. Her mental state is about two shades darker than fried, and she can’t help but break down. Topped off with a daughter who is shrill and demanding, Linda’s maternal instincts have met their match. It is certainly a must-see, but come prepared.
Glen This is also a film that refuses to offer a tidy resolution, yet the non-ending is potent and visually arresting and does offer an unsettled kind of closure. Linda may be beat down, but she’s a fighter. As much as I admired and was wowed by Stone’s performance in Bugonia, I hope Byrne takes an Oscar home. The prolific Australian actor has done a lot of amazing work in her long career, and I think she’s due. Plus, Stone’s got two Oscars already. We’ll see what the Academy decides. With four nominations, there’s more buzz around Bugonia than this film, but If I Had Legs is worth the watch for Byrne’s incredible performance.
Anna Both films are difficult to watch in their own way, and both actresses deserve every accolade they’re getting. I find Byrne’s Linda to be relatable in the most heartbreaking of ways, whereas Stone’s character in Bugonia is an icy better-than. Messy, unsure, overtaxed, Linda’s an unwilling participant in a marathon. I’ll also be rooting for Byrne to take home that gold statue. ∆
Arts Editor Glen Starkey and freelancer Anna Starkey write Split Screen. Comment at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Weddings 2026.