Mary Bronstein’s Rose Byrne-led dramedy If I Had Legs I’d Kick You will open this year’s Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) in what will be the film’s Australian premiere.
The US actress and filmmaker’s sophomore feature stars Byrne as Linda, an emotionally depleted and physically stretched psychologist juggling demanding clients, the needs of a sick child, and a growing abyss that has formed in her apartment roof.
With supporting appearances from Conan O’Brien, Christian Slater, A$AP Rocky, and Aussie Danielle Macdonald, the film careens between anxious comedy and raw emotional depth as Linda goes from barely keeping it together to outright desperation.
The film premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival before screening at Berlinale, where Byrne received the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance.
Bronstein said she was “beyond thrilled” with the selection.
“My film is built around an unprecedented performance by one of the most talented actors that has ever come out of Australia: Rose Byrne,” she said.
“It is all the more meaningful for me to be able to personally share Rose’s soul-shattering work, along with the stunningly raw co-starring performance of fellow Australian Danielle MacDonald, with such celebration and reverence in their home country.”
“This New Yorker has never been to the other side of the globe before, and I can’t think of a better way to first experience beautiful Melbourne than through such deep appreciation for not just my film, but cinema in general, as MIFF is known around the world for.”
MIFF artistic director Al Cossar described the dramedy as “some of the most intensely accomplished filmmaking you’ll see this year”.
“Urgent, funny, and audacious, we couldn’t be prouder that Bronstein’s singular vision will set the start to MIFF’s 18-day immensity of cinema-going, as we welcome Melbourne audiences back once more to our 300+ film adventure through the world’s imagination,” he said.
The MIFF Opening Night Gala will take place at Hoyts Melbourne Central on Thursday, August 7, with the festival running through to Sunday, August 24. The MIFF 2025 program will be revealed in full on Thursday, July 10.