"Throughout the movie, I had the frustrating feeling that it denied its protagonist, Grace (played by Jennifer Lawrence), a detailed inner life. Then, in this magazine, I read my colleague Jia Tolentino's Profile of Lawrence, which opens with a reference to the novel on which the film is based, by the Argentinean writer Ariana Harwicz. That book, quoted in the piece, is a first-person narrative, intimately confessional and expressively aflame."
"At the start, Grace and her husband, Jackson (Robert Pattinson), arrive at their new house, a fixer-upper in his rural home town that comes with weighty baggage: it formerly belonged to his uncle Frank, who recently died by suicide. Inside the house, which is empty except for dry leaves and other debris, Jackson declares, "It's not New York, but it's ours," and points out an office where Grace can do her writing."
Grace, played by Jennifer Lawrence, endures intense emotional struggles in the months after giving birth. She and her husband Jackson (Robert Pattinson) move into a rural fixer-upper that belonged to his uncle, who died by suicide. The film emphasizes silences and contrived exposition that produce fake marital moments and stifle character interiority. The movie is based on a novel by Ariana Harwicz, whose first-person narrative is intimate, confessional and fiery; that novel's vivid interiority contrasts with the film's thin portrayal of Grace's inner life. Lawrence and Pattinson exert themselves to lend realism, but adaptation choices undercut emotional resonance.
Read at The New Yorker
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