Late last week, theaters saw the release of writer/director Rose Glass’ first feature with A24, “Love Lies Bleeding.” Since the debut of the first official trailer, this film looked like it would quickly become a massive success – not only with a specific crowd of niche filmgoers but with the public, too. Unsurprisingly, having been considered among the best at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, it delivered, brutally.
“Love Lies Bleeding” follows Lou (Kristen Stewart) in Stewart’s most powerful and excellently executed role to date, a withdrawn gym manager (Ed Davis) and Jackie (Katy O’Brien) – an aspiring bodybuilder – through an off-kilter romance, set in1980s Albuquerque.
Its cast is tight and fleshed out fantastically. Ed Harris, Dave Franco, Jena Malone and Anya Baryshnikov become exactly the over-the-top characters they need to be, and deliver a performance beyond believable – some to the point of garnering true hatred, so be warned. But it does take a talented crew of actors and filmmakers to make an audience feel so strongly about their characters as this film does.
Cinematographer Ben Fordesman not only beautifully captures Albuquerque’s city life and deep desert with a carefully constructed layer of flashback ‘80s dust, he captures the characters as well. Though the performances were powerful and intense on their own, they are heightened significantly by the colorful and creative photography direction. This film is gorgeous to look at, and no scene is denied the treatment of stunning cinematography, as it should be.
In a landscape of LGBTQ+ stories becoming increasingly popular in mainstream media and film, the integrity and creativity of some films suffer leaning on the crutch of believing that simply including LGBTQ+ characters, without giving them the depth they deserve, will create a successful and compelling story. “Love Lies Bleeding” doesn’t just ignore that belief, it smashes it, and sets it on fire.
Each character is shrouded in mystery, yet Glass clearly knows them well. Though the audience may not learn all of the secrets surrounding Jackie’s past or Lou’s criminal family, what we learn is brutal, tragic and heartbreaking, but incredibly gripping.
Despite the harrowing tragedy and tasteful – maybe even beautiful – brutal violence of the film, it doesn’t take itself too seriously to get immersed. This movie knows that it’s a movie – it knows that it exists in a fictional world.
Though the film is believably realistic, it is stylized and wild, erotic, thrilling, tense and, at times, rewarding.
“Love Lies Bleeding” is still a lesbian love story for the ages. It doesn’t suffer from “romcom syndrome,” nor the stereotype of lesbianism for the male gaze. It is raw, and doesn’t seem to be geared toward any demographic manipulatively. It simply exists, and it’s nearly perfect.
If what you’re looking for in a love story is crime, revenge, murder, faithful 1980s Albuquerque, female bodybuilders and a well-rounded, gripping story, “Love Lies Bleeding” is out in theaters now. It is unpredictable and passionate, and, above all, certainly pulling no punches.
Sadie Hopkins is a beat reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com
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