Love Lies Bleeding blends various elements together into a surprising, sometimes effective, sometimes ineffective sapphic thriller. For me, the movie is at its best when dealing with the crime portion of the story where the bursts of violence ratchet up the tension, and Rose Glass' direction builds a sense of unease with these shots bathed in red and darkness set to an ominous soundtrack. It is in these sections that Kristen Stewart's acting is at its height as well, where her nervousness and frustration bleed through the screen. Katy O'Brian and Ed Harris do a good job as well, and their characters inhabit this drama well. However, the problem is that this movie also has a romantic element to it. And unfortunately, this part fell flat to me. I felt it was rushed, and the way it impacts and informs events throughout the movie to be unearned. Also, I just didn't feel like Stewart and O'Brian had as much chemistry together, even though they were excellent individually. Finally, this movie has a scattering of surrealism mixed in. Though I wasn't a fan of it overall because of how random it felt, I thought it was generally helping to build the atmosphere -- even if the thematic focus for these parts was not really synergizing with the rest of the movie. However, near the end, one of these sequences sort of took me completely out of the movie. For a movie that is mostly grounded, just having this random sequence at the end felt almost like a betrayal, and I also struggled to see its purpose. Because of this, the ending fell flat to me, and it allowed my more negative feelings to overtake some of the more positive aspects of the movie.
Love Lies Bleeding mixes the Coen brothers' fascination with the once-wild-now-tame West with a grotesquely tactile and gross lens on the human experience rivaling the great John Waters (an ironic twist of fate, as this is the type of cinematic masterpiece Ethan Coen's Drive-Away Dolls thinks it wants to be a snarky parody of). This film then takes that concept and runs with it, through the end zone and out the other side into the stadium's back parking lot. Every frame is shrink-wrapped in this uniquely feminine sexual itch, one that even a cis straight male viewer like me is strongly gravitated toward. The viewer is picked up and thrashed around by the sickening, swirling tone of the film, pulled through climax after thrilling climax. Once we reach the variably interpretable ending, we don't even care any more, because we're coming down from the high and realizing we survived. The end result reads like something out of Hunter Thompson's personal dream journal.
The cast of talented performers only elevates the already masterful material, with a career performance by Ed Harris, break-out roles for Anna Baryshnikov and Katy O'Brian, and let's not forget little Franco's sleazy imitation of Big Brother.
I can't wait to see more of Rose Glass's work. She is cinematic voice for a generation no longer playing the part the humble townsfolk, accosted by handsome men wandering out of the sandy, grainy filmstock. Now we are that stranger in that strange land, the West. The West is all around us, a breathing, living thing that takes us in. If you don't watch your step, the ground beneath your feet will open up and swallow you whole.
This movie was incredible, everything I hoped it would be from the description and trailer, and more. It's rare that a movie keeps my attention fully riveted on it, but this had me hooked from the first thirty seconds. The cinematography is gorgeous, the visuals were gritty and greasy and sumptuous, and most importantly, the relationship felt real and natural, much more so than practically any hetero relationship I've seen portrayed in film. Maybe it's just because I'm also queer, but every part of Lou and Jackie's journey resonated with me. It looked at the fact that sometimes you do stupid shit for love, and sometimes you get absolutely furious with someone, out of love, and sometimes, if you're really lucky, your girlfriend saves your life by metaphorically hulking out . God. This movie was just amazing, I'll be thinking about it for days, and might rewatch it soon. Kristen Stewart just gets better with everything I see her in, and Katy O'Brian was also phenomenal. Ed Harris was creepy and menacing and just an all around VBM (very bad man). Daisy's character made me uncomfortable but also sad for her. Just, oof. So good. The score was excellent as well.
I'm kinda sick of arthouse films copying the Nicolas Winding Refn aesthetic, but if you're gonna do it this well, I can't complain. Love the synth score and neon aesthetic, it's easily its strongest asset. Unfortunately, the script and overall direction are junk. I feel like it's trying to give you the Brian de Palma/John Carpenter version of something like Bound or Thelma & Louise, and if that sounds like an awkward mix of tones, you'd be right. I really didn't care for the romance that's set-up during the first act due to the awkward dialogue, flat characterization and lack of chemistry between the two leads. Once the crime plot develops, it has a hard time justifying the motivations of characters in a way that doesn't feel contrived or stupid. It gradually becomes more camp as it goes along, but not in a way that I found particularly rewarding. By the time it reaches its conclusion I was laughing at how unapologetically trashy the film gets, leaving any real attempt at substance in the rear view mirror in favour of something more groteseque, which falls completely flat. Leading up to those moments, it kinda feels like the film wants to have it both ways, because it integrates these poorly executed surrealist moments and an underdeveloped theme of female body language that doesn't quite jell with the rest of the plot. It's one of those films that would've benefitted from less pretension and instead focussing on making sure that you care about the central relationship, because the end result here is quite a mess.
4/10
Very Rose Glass and very A24. A mixed bag from beginning to end for me. The characters are memorable and interesting but the romance never felt justified to me, all I saw is that it was built on sex. Too rushed and it's hard to keep up with the ups and downs of the relationship and everything happening around them. They barely had a decent conversation together before all hell breaks loose. Some frustrating character interactions and dumb decision making. Most of the movie's direction was frustrating to me. The crime storyline is generic. The final twist works as an idea, it had potencial, but I don't think it was executed very well. Felt very cheap.
Great performance from Kristen Stewart, probably my favorite performance from her after Spencer. Katy O'Brian gives a strong physical performance and Ed Harris was good comical relief. The gore took me by surprise, very brutal and shocking. Some interesting visuals and a good score. It does a good job at building the tension. I like the 'muscles as a metaphor for love' idea and how working on your body is the same as working on a relationship. The motivational panels on the walls in the gym was a nice touch.
Review by XiofireBlockedParent2024-04-28T20:33:59Z
A sweaty, gritty, horny, sapphic thrill ride that, if not for it's divisive and dreamlike fizzle of a finale, would be a personal modern classic. Rose Glass absolutely blew me away with her debut in Saint Maud, and her penchant for blurring the lines between fantasy and reality only continues with more fervour in her sophmore outing. A departure from her horror roots, Love Lies Bleeding is part lesbian romance, part crime thriller with a dash of body horror. I absolutely loved everything this movie was putting down for about 90% of the runtime, even down to its manic escalation towards the back half, but I can't help but feel shortchanged by the haste with which concludes things right before the credits roll. Lovely visuals, everything looks so caked in sweat and dirt and humidity; Kristen is quietly hilarious and the perfect fit for the awkward, sprialing-in-love lesbian she's asked to play opposite larger than life Katy O'Brian, who absolutely steals the show with her troubled, muscular, steroid junkie Jackie. I have a feeling that subsequent viewings will only aid this one, as well as musing on the signivicance of a lot of the imagery in play here. Really great stuff, I look forward to now reading explanation posts and watching video essays until I fully understand every part of this movie, and there is no greater praise I can give it than that.