Cracking under pressure — quite literally — becomes the visual and emotional centerpiece of If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. Mary Bronstein’s most recent film takes on a darkly funny, brutally intimate imitation of what happens when the structures we rely on — both emotionally, domestically, or even physically — begin to fracture. It’s a film about implosion: the quiet kind that seeps through routine and makes itself at home until the everyday just feels uncanny. Not only does the acting work upon the messy art of falling apart, but the cinematography is also able to portray the entire process of shattering and coming undone. The result is painfully claustrophobic study of motherhood, exhaustion, and the impossible demand to hold everything together when you just simply can’t. 

This website explores my experience watching If I Had Legs I’d Kick You at the 2025 Calgary International Film Festival. The review dives into how Bronstein captures quiet collapse through sound, camera work, and performance, creating a claustrophobic portrait of motherhood and mental exhaustion.