If I Had Legs I'd Kick You

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If I Had Legs I'd Kick You
If I Had Legs I'd Kick You poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Mary Bronstein
Written byMary Bronstein
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyChristopher Messina
Edited byLucian Johnston
Production
companies
  • A24
  • Central Group
  • Fat City
Distributed byA24
Release dates
  • January 24, 2025 (2025-01-24)(Sundance)
  • October 10, 2025 (2025-10-10)(United States)
Running time
114 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$308,143 [2] [3]

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You is a 2025 American psychological drama film, written and directed by Mary Bronstein. It stars Rose Byrne, Conan O'Brien, Danielle Macdonald, Christian Slater and ASAP Rocky.

Contents

The film had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2025. At the 75th Berlin International Film Festival, Byrne won the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance. It received a domestic release by A24 on October 10, 2025.

Plot

Linda is a therapist stretched to her limits while caring for her daughter, who has a mysterious illness that causes a severe aversion to food. The daughter, whose face is never shown, must be fed through a tube each night, and her demands add to Linda's immense stress. The family's situation takes a turn for the worse when the bedroom ceiling of their Montauk apartment collapses and floods the house. With her largely absent husband Charles away on a two-month work trip, Linda is forced to move with her daughter into a shabby motel.

Charles only calls to complain and criticize her, offering no genuine support. Professionally, Linda is surrounded by clients in crisis, including Caroline, a new mother who abandons her baby mid-session. Linda seeks help from her own colleague therapist (Conan O'Brien) due to her own personal problems. However, he is unsympathetic and increasingly exasperated by her behavior detailing her dreams, offering little help as her life falls apart. While living in the motel, Linda meets Diana, a snarky clerk, and her neighbor James, a motel superintendent who becomes an unlikely source of comfort and chaos. James helps her score drugs online and offers emotional support to her daughter, but their relationship is complicated and ultimately strained.

Caroline later appears at her home but then slaps Linda and runs away after being refused help. Later, when told that her daughter cannot make the necessary weight for her peg to be removed, Linda takes her daughter home and removes the peg. Eventually, her husband comes home and discovers the problems with their daughter that happened after having the bedroom ceiling hole repaired. After getting angry at Linda, she runs off to the beach shore and tries to drown herself. Linda wakes up with her daughter looking at her and says that she will get better.

Cast

Production

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You began filming in August [6] and September 2023 [7] in Montauk, New York after SAG-AFTRA granted an interim agreement for the film amidst the actors' strike. [8]

Release

Byrne with the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance Rose Byrne with Silver Bear 3.jpg
Byrne with the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2025. [9] It had its international premiere in February 2025 at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival in competition for the Golden Bear. [10] [11] Rose Byrne won the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance. [12] It will be screened at the 52nd Telluride Film Festival, [13] the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, [14] the 2025 New York Film Festival, [15] and the 2025 BFI London Film Festival. [16] The film was released by A24 on October 10, 2025. [17]

It will be screened in the 'Best of 2025' section of the 20th Rome Film Festival in October 2025. [18]

Reception

Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 95% of 91 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.0/10.The website's consensus reads: "Liable to leave audiences in a cold sweat, this fever dream immersion into parental stress connects with thunderous force thanks to Rose Byrne's gutsy star turn and director Mary Bronstein's uncompromising vision." [19] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 79 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [20]

Accolades

AwardDate of ceremonyCategoryRecipientResultRef.
Berlin International Film Festival February 23, 2025 Golden Bear If I Had Legs I'd Kick YouNominated [21]
Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance Rose Byrne Won
Mill Valley Film Festival October 10, 2025Mind the Gap AwardWon [22]
Sitges Film Festival October 18, 2025 Best Feature FilmIf I Had Legs I'd Kick YouNominated [23]
Best Female PerformanceRose ByrneWon
Middleburg Film Festival October 19, 2025Agnès Varda Trailblazing Film Artist AwardWon [24]
Savannah Film Festival October 27, 2025Luminary AwardWon [25] [26]

References

  1. "IF I HAD LEGS I'D KICK YOU". British Columbia Film Classification Office
    Consumer Protection BC
    . September 24, 2025. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
  2. "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You – Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved October 19, 2025.
  3. "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 19, 2025.
  4. Evans, Greg (February 21, 2024). "'Feud's Ella Beatty To Join Broadway's 'Appropriate'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  5. Garner, Glenn (January 24, 2025). "'If I Had Legs I'd Kick You' Review: Rose Byrne Falls Into A Mom Shame Spiral In Mary Bronstein's Tense Dramatic Comedy — Sundance Film Festival". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved January 25, 2025.
  6. "SAG-AFTRA" (PDF). sagaftra.org. SAG-AFTRA . Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  7. "PRODUCTION WEEKLY – ISSUE 1367 – THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2023 / 163 LISTINGS – 33 PAGES". productionweekly.com. Production Weekly. September 14, 2023. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  8. Hipes, Patrick (November 7, 2023). "SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreements: Full List Of Movies And TV Series". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  9. D'Alessandro, Anthony; Patten, Dominic (December 11, 2024). "Sundance 2025: JLo, Sly Stone, Putin, Ayo Edebiri, André Holland, & Ex-NZ PM Jacinda Ardern Films Among Park City Festival Offerings". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  10. "Berlinale Programme". www.berlinale.de. Retrieved February 6, 2025.
  11. Ntim, Zac (January 21, 2025). "Berlin Film Festival Lineup: Richard Linklater, Jessica Chastain, A$AP Rocky & Marion Cotillard Movies Among Vibrant Selection". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  12. "The Prizes of the International Jury". www.berlinale.de. Retrieved February 22, 2025.
  13. Neglia, Matt (August 28, 2025). "The 2025 Telluride Film Festival Lineup". Next Best Picture. Retrieved August 28, 2025.
  14. D'Alessandro, Anthony (July 21, 2025). "TIFF Galas & Presentations: World Premieres 'Good Fortune', 'Nuremberg', Sydney Sweeney Pic 'Christy', Angelina Jolie 'Couture'; North American Debuts Guillermo del Toro's 'Frankenstein', Dwayne Johnson 'Smashing Machine'". Deadline. Retrieved August 28, 2025.
  15. Rubin, Rebecca (August 5, 2025). "New York Film Festival Unveils 2025 Lineup: George Clooney's 'Jay Kelly,' 'Sentimental Value,' Park Chan-wook's 'No Other Choice'". Variety. Retrieved September 4, 2025.
  16. Neglia, Matt (September 3, 2025). "The 2025 BFI London Film Festival Lineup". Next Best Picture. Retrieved September 4, 2025.
  17. Dunn, Jack (August 6, 2025). "'If I Had Legs I'd Kick You' Trailer: Rose Byrne Plays a Spiraling Mother in A24 Dramedy". Variety. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  18. "Festa del Cinema di Roma 2025, il programma completo (diretta)" [Rome Film Fest 2025: Full program (live)]. Ciak Magazine (in Italian). September 19, 2025. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  19. "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved October 9, 2025. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  20. "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved October 16, 2025.
  21. "Prizes of the International Jury". www.berlinale.de. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  22. "MVFF48 SCHEDULE – Mill Valley Film Festival". www.mvff.com. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
  23. Romero, Miguel Ángel (October 18, 2025). "Palmarés de Sitges 2025: el body horror 'La hermanastra fea' gana el premio a la mejor película". Cinemanía (in Spanish). Retrieved October 18, 2025 via 20minutos.es.
  24. Jones, Marcus (September 18, 2025). "'Jay Kelly' to Open Middleburg Film Festival, with Chloé Zhao and Colin Farrell Among 2025 Honorees". IndieWire. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  25. "AwardsWatch - 2025 SCAD Savannah Film Festival Honorees Include Rose Byrne, Oscar Isaac, Dylan O'Brien and Tessa Thompson". AwardsWatch. October 1, 2025. Retrieved October 2, 2025.
  26. "Honored guests | Filmfest". filmfest.scad.edu. Retrieved October 5, 2025.