Channelling peak Gena Rowlands (and there is no greater praise), Jennifer Lawrence joins forces with ace Scottish director Lynne Ramsay for a match made in movie heaven. Crawling, snarling and shimmying across the screen, Lawrence is phenomenal as Grace, a new mum who moves from New York City to rural Montana with her partner Jackson (Robert Pattinson), into the dilapidated home of his dead uncle.

Based on the 2012 novel by Ariana Harwicz, Die My Love is the story of a woman on, and then well and truly over, the verge. Following the birth of her son, writer Grace begins to show signs of depression and eventually psychosis, behaving erratically and self-harming, with her passionate and initially happy relationship coming under strain. Sissy Spacek and Nick Nolte appear as Jackson’s ravaged parents.

Aided by an eclectic and beautifully employed soundtrack, Ramsay gives us something that is by turns strange and haunting and bracingly real and confrontational. The screenplay from Ramsay, Enda Walsh and Alice Birch delves into the depths of Grace’s fragile psyche and encourages us to cheer her on as she says the unsayable and does the unthinkable.

Pattinson is the perfect foil as Grace’s bewildered partner, who can be irritable and insensitive but is sometimes just trying his best. The role of Grace would be a sensational challenge for any actor, but Lawrence really gets her teeth into it (Martin Scorsese sent the novel to her production company, Excellent Cadaver, suggesting she take on the part). Lawrence flaunts her sexuality, flexes her comic chops, and throws insults and inappropriate antics out there like bombs. It’s hard to imagine anyone doing it better.

Die My Love is in cinemas from Friday 7 November; main picture: Kimberley French; read our interview with Lynne Ramsay and our article on Jennifer Lawrence.