Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson took to the Cannes red carpet this evening for the world premiere of new film Die My Love, directed by Lynne Ramsay (You Were Never Really Here).
The Competition movie is based on the 2017 novel by Ariana Harwicz, and also stars LaKeith Stanfield, Sissy Spacek and Nick Nolte.
Set in rural America, the film is a portrait of a married woman’s mental disintegration as post-natal depression consumes and obliterates her. Pattinson plays her husband, and Stanfield her lover.
Deadline’s Damon Wise was impressed by Ramsay’s “mesmerizing film”, describing it as a “brutal but beautiful story”. As for many critics, Lawrence proved the star of the show. “America knows very well how good Jennifer Lawrence can be, and this could well mean a fifth Oscar nomination if it lands in savvy hands.” But Ramsay also comes in for particular praise: “It could also be the film that takes Ramsay into the next stage of her career,” says Wise.
The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw gave the film four stars of our five, noting: “Lawrence excels as a woman whose bipolar disorder is exacerbated by husband Robert Pattinson’s infidelity, with super-strength direction from Lynne Ramsay.”
The BBC wrote: “Die, My Love is a surreal, intense and sometimes darkly hilarious exploration of postpartum depression – although it does seem for a time as thought it’s going to be a lot more besides.Jennifer Lawrence is better than ever as Grace…The film has its share of incidents, but it’s essentially a mood piece – one long nervous breakdown – rather than a drama with a plot.”
Indiewire also praised Lawrence and noted her awards credentials: “Jennifer Lawrence Goes Full Feral in Lynne Ramsay’s Intense, Exhausting Postpartum Psychosexual Frenzy,” declared the headline, before adding, “Lawrence gives an unleashed performance as a mother in freefall that festival Best Actress awards are made for.”
The Daily Beast felt similarly about Lawrence’s awards potential: “J. Law’s mesmerizing performance in Die, My Love is so good, expect her to show up on that Oscar stage again.”
Vanity Fair described Lawrence as “astonishing”: “A sometimes reluctant movie star reminds us of her full power in this Cannes standout.”
Variety was one of the few early review outlets that couldn’t get on with the movie, which it said was “more eager to wallow in violent dysfunction than understand it”: “By the time Die My Love reaches its voluptuously incendiary yet somehow rather rote ending, you may wish you were watching a different movie,” the trade wrote.
Lawrence is a four-time Oscar nominee, winning Best Actress in 2013 for Silver Linings Playbook.
Ramsay directed Die, My Love from her script written with Enda Walsh and Alice Burch. Producers include Justine Ciarrocchi and Lawrence on behalf of Excellent Cadaver, as well as Martin Scorsese, Andrea Calderwood, and Black Label Media’s Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill and Thad Luckinbill. The latter served as financier.
Known for her Cannes-debuting drama Ratcatcher, as well as films like We Need to Talk About Kevin and Morvern Callar, Ramsay’s last movie You Were Never Really Here, the thriller starring Joaquin Phoenix, won her the Cannes Best Screenplay award in 2017.
The post Critics Herald Jennifer Lawrence’s “Mesmerizing” Performance In Cannes Drama ‘Die My Love’: “Expect Her To Show Up On That Oscar Stage Again” appeared first on Deadline.
