Relationships are complicated, and sometimes, knowing how to mend the spidering cracks of a once-solid union is hard. Do you know what’s even more difficult to fathom? Attempting to fix that fractured relationship after realizing the reality you’re living in might not be your own. A24 invites you to experience Why Don’t You Love Me?, an adaptation of Paul B Rainey’s graphic novel starring Jennifer Lawrence.
Lawrence leads the film with On Becoming a God in Central Florida creator Robert Funke in the director’s chair. Drawn & Quarterly published Rainey’s graphic novel in 2023, and the book’s official synopsis reads:
Claire and Mark are in the doldrums of an unhappy marriage. She doesn’t get out of her bathrobe and chain-smokes while slumped on the couch. Mark has lost track of the days and can’t get the kids to school on time. They’ve lost interest in family and order in pizza and Chinese food every night. Mark sleeps on the couch and has trouble remembering his son’s name. He feels like a fraud at work but somehow succeeds. Claire stalks an ex-boyfriend. How could he have left her to this life?
Claire and Mark are both plagued by the idea that this is all a dream. Didn’t they have different lives? When reports of an imminent nuclear war come on the radio, the truth begins to dawn on them: this is not the life they chose.
Why Don’t You Love Me? is a pitch-black comedy about marriage, alcoholism, depression, and mourning lost opportunities. Paul B. Rainey has created a hilariously terrifying alternate reality where confusion and pain might lead people to make bad choices but also eventually freedom…maybe.
In addition to her starring role, Lawrence produces alongside Justine Ciarrocchi for Excellent Cadaver, the banner behind the crowd-pleasing comedy No Hard Feelings. Fittingly, Midsommar filmmaker Ari Aster will produce Why Don’t You Love Me? Lars Knudsen and Emily Hildner of Square Peg also produce, with Rainey as an executive producer.
Drawn & Quarterly is a powerhouse publisher in the graphic novel space, with page-turners like Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, Gleem, So Long Sad Love, A Witch’s Guide to Burning, Roaming, Offshore Lighting, and Blankets as a part of their extensive library. A24 is the perfect studio to help adapt D&Q’s penchant for printing unforgettable indie titles, and with Jennifer Lawrence on board, I don’t see how anyone can miss this adaptation of Rainey’s Why Don’t You Love Me?