Die My Love
Lynne Ramsay makes her first film in eight years, a controversial work that no other artist could have made.
Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson
Image courtesy of Mubi.
Regardless of its weaknesses, there is never any doubt but that this new film by Lynne Ramsay is a work of art. The Glaswegian filmmaker born in 1969 has only made five feature films but her very first one, 1999’s Ratcatcher, immediately marked her out as somebody possessed of unusual cinematic flair. It was also apparent from the start that she had much in common with the likes of the late Terence Davies. That is to say that she has a deep artistic sensibility of her own that is naturally expressed through film rather than her being a director intent on building up a career in commercial cinema. Consequently, it seemed fitting that Ratcatcher should have been a screen original that she had written herself. More surprising for such an individual filmmaker is the fact that Morven Callar (2002), We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011) and You Were Never Really Here (2017) were all based on novels. Nevertheless, in each case the screenplay was by Ramsay herself, either alone or with collaborators, and that is again the set-up here: Die My Love is an adaptation by Enda Walsh, Ramsay and Alice Birch of a book by Ariana Harwicz. I have not read it but understand that there has been a vital change of emphasis towards the end, a fact that fits in with my belief that whatever its source material a Lynne Ramsay film is in a very special sense her own creation.
Fascinating as her career has been to date, I have not always enthused about Ramsay's films (I did not get on terms with the much-admired Morven Callar and in We Need To Talk About Kevin the writing did not always measure up to the great performances). But when it comes to divergent views about her work Die My Love may well represent the most extreme case of it. At this year’s Cannes Film Festival, it was nominated for the Palme d’Or and, although it did not win it, it received a standing ovation which lasted for all of six minutes. On the other hand, the review by Owen Gleiberman in Variety regarded it as a showy mess and he was far from being alone in that view although the piece by Kevin Maher in The Times with its one-star rating was probably the most devastating. However, such contrasted reactions are hardly surprising given the nature and style of the piece. It is also relevant in this context that Die My Love is wide open to interpretation when it comes to deciding what it is trying to do.
This is a film very much centred on two characters, a couple from New York who move to Montana. He is Jackson (Robert Pattinson) who has opted to be nearer his widowed mother, Pam (Sissy Spacek), and she is Grace (Jennifer Lawrence) who in theory should find the quiet countryside a good place to further her writing ambitions although in practice she seems to find herself suffering from writer’s block. The farmhouse available for them is one which had belonged to Jackson's uncle who had committed suicide and the couple’s arrival there marks the start of the film. At this time, they are ardently sexual – indeed as the strong language featured here puts it, they fuck like rabbits. But this is all set up before the title appears and thereafter we realise time has moved on sufficiently for them to be sharing the house with their baby son and before long we hear that their sexual intercourse is now decidedly infrequent. Everything that follows is from Grace's viewpoint so we don't really know if her suspicions of Jackson's infidelity – he regularly goes away on business trips – are justified or not. We are aware that she conjures up imaginary events including encounters with a man on a motorbike (LaKeith Stanfield) but, as her mood swings and behaviour grow ever more extreme and extend to self-injury, it becomes apparent that her state of mind is an issue at the very centre of this tale.
To describe Die My Love in this way may suggest that we know exactly where we are, but that is not really the case. Because the greater part of what we see of Grace's behaviour follows the birth of her baby there is a wide tendency to describe this as a work centred on the theme of postpartum depression. Indeed, there is a scene in which Pam, the one character who seems to fully appreciate Grace's condition, refers to it in these terms. Nevertheless, it has been suggested that with Grace behaving ever more erratically what we are seeing is indicative of deeper-rooted mental problems than postnatal difficulties. However, if one seeks to view the piece as a direct expression of either of those issues, it suggests that one is approaching the tale as a realistic one and taking such a viewpoint renders the film problematic. There is one point at which Grace’s self-inflicted injuries lead to her being taken into hospital and she talks to a man who, seen only in a single shot, is presumably a psychiatrist. It could well be that on this occasion Jackson has been involved in seeking aid for Grace, but for the rest and despite the fact that their baby could be endangered he takes virtually no action at all and that seems utterly unlikely.
But the fact is that even at an early stage - it happens when the film’s title appears following a prologue - there are intercut shots of a forest going up in flames and these suggest a degree of symbolism. That is an apt cue to regard Die My Love as a wholly stylised work even if one still chooses to interpret it as a comment on actual postpartum depression. What follows are scenes of present imaginings and of past episodes which may also sometimes be imaginary rather than actual flashbacks. It seems right to regard these as an attempt to put us inside Grace's head thus creating a film in which the only essential realism is her state of mind.
There has certainly been much praise for the performances. The bold commitment and force that Jennifer Lawrence brings to the complex role of the frenzied Grace is certainly striking. Robert Pattinson also lends himself fully to the piece, while Sissy Spacek quietly but intently adds a touch of humanity to the tale (Nick Nolte also present as Pam's husband is fine but his is a very brief role as is that played by LaKeith Stanfield). Yet, however striking the performances are, you always feel that the cast are in service to what Lynne Ramsay is creating.
I started off by describing Die My Love as a work of art and that is because one senses from the outset that an artist (no other word will do) is at work here. It is collaborative, of course, with Ramsay’s acute sense for images blending with the skills of the photographer Seamus McGarvey and her storytelling in stylised mode often expressed through reliance on the editing by Toni Froschhammer. Ramsay regularly works with sound designer Paul Davies and throughout the entire film there is a precise regard for the effective use of natural sounds. As for the music on the track, varied and apt recordings feature prominently, yet another aspect of Ramsay’s artistic signature. What all this means to a receptive viewer is that you feel that you are in the hands of an artist with absolute control of her medium. But that can't, of course, guarantee that one will find that the chosen material is as exceptional as the skill brought to it and at 118 minutes I do find that the second half of the film starts to go round in circles rather than progressing meaningfully.
That strikes me as a real error of judgment, but even so this is an astonishing work and one that should leave you making your own assessment as to its aims. Over the end credits there is a performance of the song ‘Love Will Tear You Apart’ in which Ramsay herself is one of the singers and one could argue that Die My Love is indeed at heart a love story in which the love dies. Nevertheless, my own preferred option is to see it primarily as a tale which looks at the modern world and shows that, despite the many efforts that have been made by women seeking to alter their role in society, the truth is that their situation is one that has not really changed that much as Grace's experiences show. But, whatever interpretation you favour, you will have seen an extraordinary film created by a woman who is here fully expressing herself as an artist.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattinson, LaKeith Stanfield, Sissy Spacek, Nick Nolte, Gabrielle Rose, Luke Camilleri, Phillip Forest Lewinsky, Sarah Lind, Kennedy Calderwood, Victoria Calderwood.
Dir Lynne Ramsay, Pro Martin Scorsese, Jennifer Lawrence, Justine Ciarrocchi, Molly Smith, Thad Luckinbill, Trent Luckinbill and Andrea Calderwood, Screenplay Enda Walsh, Lynne Ramsay and Alice Birch from the book by Ariana Harwicz, Ph Seamus McGarvey, Pro Des Tim Grimes, Ed Toni Froschhammer, Music George Vjestica, Raife Burchell and Lynne Ramsay, Costumes Catherine George.
Excellent Cadaver/Black Label Media/Sikelia Productions-Mubi.
119 mins. USA/UK. 2025. UK and US Rel: 7 November 2025. Cert. 15.
