MIFF To Open With Mary Bronstein’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

The Rose Byrne dramedy will make its Australian premiere on August 7.

The Melbourne International Film Festival has tapped the dramedy If I Had Legs of If I Had Legs I’d Kick You for its opening night gala screening. Having already won acclaim and Sundance and Berlinale, writer and director Mary Bronstein’s second feature will kick off the 73rd edition of MIFF.

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You sees Rose Byrne as Linda, a burned-out psychologist juggling demanding clients, a sick kid, and a growing (and deeply symbolic, at a guess) abyss that has formed in her apartment roof. Conan O’Brien, Christian Slater, A$AP Rocky and Danielle Macdonald co-star. Byrne won the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance at Berlinale for her work here.

Director Mary Bronstein said, “I am beyond thrilled to be bringing If I Had Legs I’d Kick You to MIFF. That would have been enough, but I am further honored and gobsmacked to have been selected to open the festival. My film is built around an unprecedented performance by one of the most talented actors that has ever come out of Australia: Rose Byrne. 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 added, “I’m so thrilled the electrifying If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You opens this year’s MIFF with 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”

The 2025 Melbourne International Film Festival runs from August 7 – 24. For full info and tickets, hit up the official site.