If you had said a decade ago that Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson were starring in a movie together with “love” in the title, you’d likely assume that the two were cashing in on their looks and charisma to deliver something romantic. Luckily, despite earning notoriety as young performers in the Hunger Games and the Twilight franchises, the pair have both swung for the fences in the projects they’ve subsequently pursued, with Die My Love being the latest in a long line of wackadoo movies they’ve put their efforts into. Unsurprisingly, by partnering with filmmaker Lynne Ramsay, who previously offered We Need to Talk About Kevin and You Were Never Really Here, the pair deliver a viscerally abrasive experience, whose narrative gets a bit lost in the weeds yet offers Lawrence the opportunity to become absolutely feral.

Grace (Lawrence) and Jackson (Pattinson) move into rural Montana as they opt for a life of domesticity as parents. While this initially sparks excitement and passion between them, the isolation and monotony of their new life start to get to Grace, as she vents her frustrations to Jackson despite not getting much of a response. The more time they spend participating in the more monotonous components of domestic life, from having to make small talk at the grocery store about your kid to going to pool parties, the more desperate Grace gets, as she expresses her frustrations in a variety of disturbing ways.

Even though both Lawrence and Pattinson are typically the best things about any movie they participate in, due to a seemingly effortless charm they bring and chemistry they evoke with costars, their dynamic in Die My Love is almost immediately upsetting. The opening scene merely depicts the pair walking through Jackson’s deceased uncle’s house, which they’re moving into, though the ways in which they both feign excitement and enthusiasm about the potential of the new home are off-putting, even though we’ve only just met these characters. It’s a testament to their abilities as performers that, even while conveying the requisite honeymoon phase of moving into a countryside home where all they have to do is make a baby, they can still communicate an underlying resentment they both have towards one another.

Lawrence, in particular, is fantastic and fearless in her performance. The actor always brings a certain likability to every one of her roles, which is likely a challenge when she has to portray characters that aggravate audiences. Whether it be through passive-aggressive exchanges or dismissive remarks or caustic insults, Grace fully manages to get under not only Jackson’s skin, but also the audience’s. Lawrence also manages to convey how this isn’t due to Grace being intrinsically evil, more that the path she’s chosen has brought these qualities out of her, while the situation of her husband being away at work for long stretches of time or that she has to cope with a dog that barks relentlessly evokes the necessary amount of empathy from the viewer.

Amplifying their underlying tension is Ramsay’s direction, as she opts for a 4:3 aspect ratio, which condenses every scene to make it feel crowded and claustrophobic. These characters aren’t geographically running out of space, but these cinematic constraints heighten the sense of anxiety felt between the characters and amplify the sense of being trapped, even if it’s with the person you love. Die My Love marks another gorgeous-looking outing from Ramsay, one that would be much more pleasant to just look at than one to actually listen to, given how abrasive these characters are towards one another. Throughout the film’s run time, Ramsay blurs the line between reality and surreality, leaving audiences to interpret events for themselves and question whether they’re literally happening to these characters or more a reflection of their inner psyche.

Die My Love is undeniably effective, though it feels less like a fully realized narrative and more like an opportunity for Lawrence to deliver a gripping and unsettling performance. The overall premise of a woman who seemingly has limitless potential for happiness in her future, only to descend into something much darker, feels a bit reminiscent of something like Lars von Trier’s Melancholia, though that film offered a more fulfilling overall narrative arc and a clearer depiction of the protagonist’s own depression getting in her own way. Die My Love is abrasive and irritating quite quickly, akin to something like Lawrence’s previous work mother! or even something like this year’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, yet the story’s trajectory doesn’t feel quite as dynamic as those projects.

Die My Love works thanks to Lawrence’s talents, which are supported by Pattinson’s performance, making for a viscerally skin-crawling experience. Whether you can relate to the idea that, even if your life looks great on paper, your own underlying mental state can drive you down a dark path or if you’re merely witnessing this descent as an outside observer, Lawrence manages to both evoke empathy from and ostracize viewers. It’s hard to call the movie an enjoyable watch by any stretch of the imagination, even though it’s undeniably effective, so if you want to subject yourself to two hours of emotional terror, then dive right in!

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