The ultimate question in life, if we are able to, is do we want kids? And of course, IF we are able to. Whether that be our financial situation, if our bodies will allow us, or even if our minds may not be able to take it - do you think you're REALLY able to have a kid in today's day and age? Mary Bronstein's If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You, her first movie since 2008's Yeast, wants us to really consider these questions while also giving us perhaps the worst experience of one mom's parental life. 

 

Linda is looking after her sick daughter as her husband is on an eight week work trip. The sickness is mysterious, but also urgent. There's expectations thrown onto Linda in order for her daughter to get the best care possible, and of course she wants that for her daughter she loves, but there's other things that lag Linda behind. Their apartment ceiling collapses one day and spreads asbestos and mold all over the place, causing them to move into a hotel temporarily (not to mention lugging all of her daughter's medical equipment, by herself), and it's clear Linda doesn't exactly have everything in order. Her top primary is her daughter, but other things fall from that urgent priority. 

 

Linda is played by Rose Byrne in a career defining performance displaying maternal anxieties in today's socio-economic landscape. Expectations among mothers haven't exactly changed, in fact, perhaps Bronstein is speaking to added expectations and not to mention the growing apathy to Linda's situation. It doesn't just bleed into her family life, it bleeds into her professional life too. She's a therapist with a therapist, played by Conan O'Brien, who is an interesting addition to this film's already interesting cast. As the line between the lives blur, so does her sanity. Bronstein gives us a maternal odyssey that is strange, hilarious, but also deeply sad and lonely.