When you sign on for “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” there is no escape.

No matter how much you might want one.

This isn’t to say writer and director Mary Bronstein’s film, about the agonizing deterioration of a woman whose life is falling down around her in near-apocalyptic fashion, isn’t worth watching. It is, very much so. Rose Byrne’s gonzo portrayal of a woman over the edge is flat-out brilliant, the most powerful thing she’s done and one of the best performances of the year.

It’s just … a lot. It’s to Bronstein’s credit that her direction is relentless, her focus unwavering. She holds the fearless Byrne in tight closeup for a lot of her film; she can’t escape, either. Not from anyone or anything.

It’s to Byrne’s credit that as the pressure builds we don’t run screaming from the the

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