At Sundance, the hottest ticket in town was a Rose Byrne and Conan O’Brien psychological thriller

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Rose Byrne plays a mother in the midst of a breakdown in the experiential psychological thriller “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.”

Anticipation was high for the A24 film, which will be released sometime this year. Its premiere Friday at the Sundance Film Festival was easily the hottest ticket in town, with even ticketholders unable to get in. Those who did make it into the Library theater were treated to an intense, visceral, inventive story from filmmaker Mary Bronstein that has quickly become one of the festival’s must-sees.

Byrne plays Linda, who is barely hanging on while managing her daughter’s mysterious illness. She’s faced with crisis after crisis, big and small — from the massive, gaping hole in their apartment ceiling that forces them to move to a dingy motel, to an escalating showdown with a parking attendant at a care center. The cracks in her psychological, emotional and physical wellbeing are become too much to bear.

“I’d never seen a movie before where a mother is going through a crisis with a child but our energy is not with the child’s struggle, it’s with the mother’s,” Bronstein said at the premiere. “If you’re a caretaker, you shouldn’t be bothering with yourself at all. It should all be about the person you’re taking care of, right? And that is a particular kind of emotional burnout state that I was really interested in exploring.”

Byrne and Bronstein went deep in the preparation phase, having long discussions about Linda with the goal of making her as real as possible before the quick, 27-day shoot. Byrne said she was obsessed with figuring out who Linda was before the crisis. The film was in part inspired by Bronstein’s experience with her own daughter, but she didn’t want to elaborate on the specifics.

“That’s her story to tell,” Bronstein said.

Part of Linda’s story involves her therapist, played by Conan O’Brien, who joked that he didn’t realize he was in a movie.

“I’m not looking out for movie scripts or anything. But when I got a call from A24 that they wanted me to read something, I’m not stupid,” O’Brien said. “I showed it to my wife, who is one of the smartest people I know, and she read through it and she said, ‘I didn’t know they made movies like this anymore.’”

He was particularly in awe of his director and co-star, saying he felt like a fraud standing beside them.

“It was an amazing experience, one of the best experiences of my life, just to be with them and watch them work,” O'Brien said. “I don’t know how (Byrne) did that and not check into a hospital afterwards, because I haven’t seen any actor, man or woman, sustain that level for an entire movie.”

“I feel like I have to go to a hospital now, because this was the first time I watched it,” he added. “I’m a mess.”

A$AP Rocky also co-stars, as a man Linda meets at the motel, but was not in Park City for the premiere. He is currently on trial, charged with firing a gun at a former friend.

The film is full of ambiguity, metaphor and just plain artistic expression that Bronstein hesitated to explain, from the name itself to the hole in the ceiling, which takes on a somewhat supernatural quality.

“When we have nothing left to give, we have an emptiness inside of us,” Bronstein said. “And that emptiness is actually not empty: It’s filled with all the darkness and self-hate and doubt and fear and dread and regret and everything. … That to me is what the hole is.”

Some of it, she said, she doesn’t even fully understand. The point is the experience, and critics and Sundance audiences are already fully on board.

Bronstein, a bit of a cult figure in the film world, made her directorial debut in 2008 at the SXSW festival with “Yeast,” which featured a pre-fame Greta Gerwig and was hailed by by New Yorker critic Richard Brody as a “mumblecore classic.”

“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” is only her second feature.

“This is the first time that anybody else has paid for me to make art,” Bronstein said. “I’m proud to say that this is the film that came directly from my head to the screen.”

For more coverage of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/sundance-film-festival

Danielle Macdonald, from left, Conan O'Brien, Mary Bronstein, Delaney Quinn, Daniel Zolghadri, and Rose Byrne attend the premiere of "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" during the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, at Library Theatre in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Conan O'Brien, left, and Rose Byrne attend the premiere of "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" during the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, at Library Theatre in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Conan O'Brien, left, and Rose Byrne attend the premiere of "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" during the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, at Library Theatre in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Rose Byrne, left, and Mary Bronstein attend the premiere of "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" during the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, at Library Theatre in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Rose Byrne attends the premiere of "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" during the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, at Library Theatre in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Conan O'Brien, left, and Rose Byrne attend the premiere of "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" during the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, at Library Theatre in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Conan O'Brien, from left, Mary Bronstein, and Rose Byrne attend the premiere of "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" during the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, at Library Theatre in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Rose Byrne attends the premiere of "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" during the Sundance Film Festival on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, at Library Theatre in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo says he’s healthy and wants to play even as the Milwaukee Bucks continue to say the two-time MVP is too injured to take the floor.

Antetokounmpo missed a 10th straight game on Friday night against the Boston Celtics due to what the team has described as a left knee hyperextension and bone bruise. Antetokounmpo hasn’t played since landing awkwardly during a March 15 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

“I’m healthy,” Antetokounmpo told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and The Athletic before Friday’s game. “I hate it when people force me to do things against my nature. I’m a player. I get paid to play.”

For the last couple of weeks, Antetokounmpo has participated in pregame warmups without showing any apparent signs of injury.

Antetokounmpo also noted that the Bucks should have known this about him since the 31-year-old has spent his entire 13-year career in Milwaukee.

Throughout that time, Antetokounmpo has had a reputation for rapid returns from injury, most notably when he hyperextended his knee during Milwaukee’s 2021 playoff run but missed two games before returning to lead the Bucks to their first title in half a century.

“You know who you’re dealing with,” Antetokounmpo told reporters. “So, for somebody to come and tell me to not play or to not compete, it’s like a slap in my face.”

The Bucks still had a remote chance of earning a 10th straight playoff berth at the time of that Indiana game, but they were officially eliminated from contention last week. There’s also the possibility of Antetokounmpo getting hurt again if he returns to action — he has missed a career-high 41 games this season and had two extended absences due to calf strains.

“I understand the circumstances — yes, we’re not going to be in the playoffs,” Antetokounmpo said. “For some people’s eyes, it’s not worth it for me to be out there. But for me, it’s something that goes against my nature.”

Antetokounmpo also wanted the opportunity to play alongside his younger brother, Alex, who made his NBA debut Sunday. There was a possibility of three Antetokounmpo brothers playing alongside each other in the same game, since Giannis’ older brother, Thanasis, also is on the Bucks.

“When my dad passed away, I pretty much raised (Alex),” Antetokounmpo said. “He’s able to be on the team and suit up and chase an opportunity to be great. You really think I don’t want to suit up and play with my brother? Anybody who thinks that is an idiot.”

Antetokounmpo’s desire to play — and the Bucks’ wishes to rest him — drew the attention of the National Basketball Players Association last month.

“The Player Participation Policy was designed by the league to hold teams accountable and ensure that when an All-Star like Giannis Antetokounmpo is healthy and ready to play, he is on the court,” the union said in a statement. “Unfortunately, anti-tanking policies are only as effective as their enforcement; fans, broadcast partners, and the integrity of the game itself will continue to suffer as long as ownership goes unchecked. We look forward to collaborating with the NBA on meaningful new proposals that will directly address and discourage tanking.”

This dispute between Antetokounmpo and the Bucks comes at a time when his future in Milwaukee is uncertain. Antetokounmpo’s name dominated league-wide discussions leading up to the trade deadline, though the Bucks ultimately kept him.

Antetokounmpo becomes eligible to sign a four-year contract extension worth up to $275 million in October. If he doesn’t sign the extension, Antetokounmpo could become a free agent after the 2026-27 season, or the Bucks could decide to trade him beforehand.

Now they find themselves at odds over how to handle the rest of this season.

“I don’t know where the relationship goes from there,” Antetokounmpo said. “We’ve got to go to couples therapy.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Injured Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo, center right, talks with an official, center left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Boston Celtics, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)