Writer/director Rose Glass made her feature debut with 2019’s stunningly effective psychological horror film, “Saint Maud”, an unsettling and complex mood piece that announced a unique new voice. Glass’s sophomore effort, “Love Lies Bleeding“, is an even stronger film; a hyper-stylized, supremely involving, and erotic neo-noir with a queer edge. Co-written by Weronika Tofilska, Glass has created a film burning with intensity in every moment. Her screenplay and stylistic impulses suffer no fools, bringing pure cinematic fire to the moments of violence, tension, and sex.
Set in 1980s New Mexico, Kristen Stewart is “Lou”, a worker bee at a local gym named Crater’s. The establishment is a grungy sweat and muscle-filled hive of buffed-out bodybuilders and badass attitudes, introduced by Ben Fordesman’s camera moving over the bulging muscles of the men and women pushing themselves to the workout limit.
Lou’s sister, “Beth” (Jena Malone), is married to the sleazy “JJ” (Dave Franco), who continually beats her. As with many women in abusive relationships, Beth will not entertain the idea of pressing charges against the father of her children. Adding insult to Beth’s constant injury, JJ works at a shooting range run by Lou and Beth’s dangerous father, “Lou Sr.” (Ed Harris at his most menacing). Daddy is most certainly a bad man who deals in illegal guns, hiding behind the facade of his deceptively legitimate business. Lou has a dark past with her father and may or may not have been an unwitting party to his murderous ways.
Kristen Stewart gives a smoldering and energetic performance as a young woman who exists amongst the demons that pollute her family. Lou hasn’t spoken to her father since her mother vanished 12 years earlier and no longer makes a fuss when seeing her sister with cuts and bruises, as it happens so often. Save for murder, there is nothing she can do to keep her sister safe, as JJ is under the wing of Lou Sr.
The least of her troubles (but still an unimaginable annoyance) is Daisy (Anna Baryshnikov), a trashy woman who hangs around the gym and has an unhealthy fixation on Lou. Daisy is one who can’t seem to see the bigger picture and her presence eventually becomes a danger to herself and the object of her obsession.
Kristen Stewart seems to have finally found her stride. Getting better and better with every performance, the actress constantly challenges herself and finds roles polar opposite from the last. She followed up her award worthy work as Princess Diana in 2021’s “Spencer” with David Cronenberg’s provocative “Crimes of the Future” and now this unique piece. Stewart navigates Lou’s frustrated rage with a focused precision, crafting a bold performance of depth and unbridled sexuality that is, perhaps, the actress’s best work to date.
Enter Jackie (Katy O’Brian), a wannabe bodybuilding queen who has her sights on an upcoming championship contest in Las Vegas. A drifter, Jackie becomes a regular at Lou’s gym, but (through an earlier “meeting” with JJ) finds her way to a job at the gun range run by Lou Sr. There is instant heat between Lou and Jackie. The two form a quick bond that bears the fruit of soulful passion and fiery sexual attraction.
The compelling Katy O’ Brian is completely intoxicating as she guides the audience through Jackie’s emotional voyage with the intensity of a “method” actor. O’Brian uses her hard stare, soft smile, vibrant sexuality, and (quite literally) every inch of her body to sell the many facets of the character.
The director doesn’t shy away from the eroticism. Today’s pictures (and audiences) have become too puritanical regarding on screen sex. Glass goes for broke, creating a frank and erotically graphic canvas to amplify the heat of the two women and the blazing aura of the film. Stewart and O’Brian are all in. There is a realistic enthusiasm to their carnal moments that removes any fear of exploitation and gives way to the beating hearts of their characters, while infusing the sex scenes with an adventurous danger.
“Love Lies Bleeding” is a visual and aural delicacy, but more than mere style over substance. Cinematographer Ben Fordesman shoots the seemingly quiet town in stark shadows and Giallo-tinged blood reds that warn of the ever present devils who move through the story. The visual tone creates a macabre vibe designed to keep the audience on edge.
Clint Mansell’s score (his finest to date) pulsates like the veins in Jackie’s juiced up muscles. His synth compositions give the film an even sharper bite. Each piece plays like a lit fuse burning down to an explosion, while the softer ambient cuts enhance the lust between Lou and Jackie, brining the erotic heat to a fervent boil.
As the title reminds us, in the world of noir, sex and desire come with a price while violence and bloodshed will settle scores and seal fates. Things get vicious and the air of death surrounds Lou and Jackie. Survival is the order of the day for these two and no soul gets away clean.
In the final act, the film gives way to a few flights of fancy. Jackie, (the steroids messing with her mind) sees herself bulking up as if she had taken a magic potion. Hallucinations find her muscles expanding like (as Lou tells her) “Popeye when he eats spinach.” In a wildly bizarre sequence, Glass leans into an almost absurdist approach to Jackie’s increased strength in a final battle of “monster versus monster” that will certainly divide audiences. Fear not, the moment is earned. From the film’s first scene, the director carefully forged a proper path to this type of wild abandon.
Rose Glass has wicked fun dancing on the border between the realistic and the wild, eventually embracing both. The director drives this unique motion picture with a propulsive force that makes it consistently thrilling and unique.
Violent, bloody, erotic, and refreshingly rebellious, “Love Lies Bleeding” burns across the screen like a blast from a flamethrower.
Love Lies Bleeding
Written by Weronika Tofilska & Rose Glass
Directed by Rose Glass
Starring Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian, Ed Harris, Jena Malone, Dave Franco
