Film review: Die My Love
Colleagues from Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP) have viewed the powerful and compelling new film Die My Love and wanted to share a brief update for our community.
The film is directed by Lynne Ramsay (known for We Need to Talk About Kevin and You Were Never Really Here). It stars Jennifer Lawrence (as Grace) and Robert Pattinson (as Jackson), with LaKeith Stanfield, Sissy Spacek, and Nick Nolte in supporting roles.
About the film content
Die My Love is very much a dark, arthouse psychological drama, so isn’t one to be taken literally. It provokes feelings of empathy, leaves you with questions, and you’re free to interpret things yourself.
While the film isn’t explicitly / exclusively a postpartum psychosis (PP) narrative, PP is explored within a mix of broader perinatal mental health themes, including depression, grief, trauma, isolation and alcohol use.
Because of its highly emotional and intense content, APP would urge caution for anyone with lived experience of PP or perinatal mental illness, including partners, as some scenes may be very distressing.
APP’s Jenny and Hannah share their reviews
Jenny and Hannah went to see the film together - a nice way to check in with each other and not watch it in isolation. If you are planning to watch it, take care of yourselves, and know that APP’s peer supporters are here for you. You might also want to go to the cinema or watch at home with a trusted friend or family member.
Jenny, one of APP’s National Peer Support Coordinators, said, “I thought the film was excellent. It leaves you with a lot to interpret and process for yourself in terms of Grace’s experiences, acted out brilliantly by Jennifer Lawrence, while an often bewildered Jackson watches on. It was reassuring that there is never any question of Grace’s love and attachment with her son, it is everyone and everything else that she seems to no longer relate to and detaches from. I would suggest that anyone with lived experience of perinatal mental health issues who is thinking about seeing the film watch some of the trailers and clips first, to see if you feel the tone of it is for you, and be aware that there are some distressing scenes and high emotion throughout. It’s a surreal and chaotic ride that will leave you with plenty of questions.”
Hannah, National Coordinator (NHS Contracts), said, “I thought this film was brilliant. It was intense, confusing, exhilarating, and I found myself mesmerised from start to finish. Die My Love resonated with many parts of my own experience of PP. Visually, it was beautiful yet harsh, and the soundtrack also added to the emotions, especially the music, which included a gorgeous acoustic version of a song my eldest used to dance along to when he was a toddler (can you tell I’m a musician in a former life?!).
Jennifer Lawrence’s performance was outstanding, and whilst Grace’s frustrations with Jackson and his older family members were understandable at times, I did also find myself feeling desperately sad for him at times too. Whilst their baby is sometimes outside of the narrative of their relationship and the chaos of whatever is going on, Grace is a loving mother - I wanted to cheer when she was questioned about her bond and attachment with her son and said “there’s nothing wrong, he’s perfect and I don’t have any problems with that”, voicing what many around her were feeling and she was managing (in the main) to hold onto as a tenuous link to reality, or at least her version of it. A real feast for the senses, soul and deserving of a wide audience. Do take care if you have lived experience or aren’t feeling great, but I loved it.”
Contact APP for peer support
If you have been affected by this film, need any support, or want to meet others affected by postpartum psychosis, please get in touch with our peer support team: app@app-network.org or find out more about APP peer support here.
Working with journalists, filmmakers and content creators
We work closely with journalists, filmmakers and content creators to promote accurate and sensitive portrayals of PP. If you're making content or want to talk about PP, please do get in touch with us: media@app-network.org or find out more here.