Director/writer Rose Glass follows up on her fantastic psychological horror SaintMaud with Love Lies Bleeding.
Starring Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian and Ed Harris, Love Lies Bleeding is a vicious rollercoaster of love wrapped in barbed wire, steroids and body horror.
The film tells the story of Lou Lou (Kristen Stewart) who works in a gym in a small rural American town. Her father, Lou Snr is a despicable human being for reasons I’ll leave to you to find out. When a bodybuilder called Jackie drifts into town on her way to a bodybuilding contest it starts a rollercoaster of steroid-fuelled chaos.
The style of filmmaking, to me, was masterful, blending the visual and audio styles of David Lynch, Gasper Noe, and Nicolas Winding Refn. All of this is drenched in an unpredictable, violent and ferocious thriller. A love letter to the the gritty 80s thrillers we just don’t get anymore.
- I saw Lynch’s Lost Highway in the filming (road scenes).
- I also noticed Gasper Noe’s unforgettable trick he used in Irreversible (or something very similar) – Glass used the same siren-like noise Noe used in the grim opening of his French shocker. I do not doubt in my mind this sound was used to make us feel uneasy, nauseated and sick to our stomachs – it worked.
- And, finally, some of the shots reminded me of the visual style of the awesome Nicolas Winding Refn.
Kristen Stewart continues to prove to the haters that she has washed away the shit stains of Bella from Twilight. Her range is impressive and she would defo be in my top three favourite female actors.
Stewart’s role as Lou Lou opens up a different side to what we’ve seen before. She plays a vulnerable, broken character, someone carrying the weight of guilt, someone who longs for connection but someone who takes no shit from no one. The chemistry between Stewart and O’Brian is off the charts giving us one of the most unpredictable couples in recent film history.
I’ve seen a lot of people compare Love Lies Bleeding to some sort of Thelma and Louise but I didn’t find that connection at all. If I had to compare it to something then I would say the Charlize Theron and Christina Ricci tragic biopic Monster. There’s nothing similar in terms of storyline but as for grittiness? maybe. How far would you go for the person you love…when you’re a little bit unhinged yourself? Love Lies Bleeding is far from a Thelma and Louise Hollywood crime comedy.
Glass manages to create a bold, unpredictable and unapologetic love story wrapped in a ferocious, bloody, body horror-inspired thriller.
It’s hard to believe that Love Lies Bleeding is only Glass’ second feature. It couldn’t be further away from Saint Maud and this film left me feeling that she has now mastered this sub-genre and she will try a different genre for her third feature. I hope not and we get to see more gritty, violent thrillers from Rose Glass.
I also found elements of body horror which were cleverly done. Every once in a while we would hear the veins inside Jackie’s body almost tense up so hard you would think they wanted to rip out of her skin (such great sound design). While we watch the relationship blossom between Lou Lou and Jackie, we also see the effects of constantly pumping steroids into her veins until the inevitable happens: Roid Rage.
For those of you who dismissed Love Lies Bleeding because the two central characters were gay, then that’s just unfortunate. This ain’t The Birdcage, haters. It just has gay characters. Sort yourselves out, leave your homophobic views at the BackDoor and go and enjoy one of the best thrillers and cinematic couples we’ve had in a long, long time. Lou Lou is so unpredictable because she will go to extreme lengths for Jackie, even if that means murder. Jackie is so unpredictable because she is pumped full of steroids and looks like she will explode into a fit of messy murderous rage at any minute. The two combined is cinematic greatness.
The last 10 minutes went completely bat-sh*t crazy. Above, I compared Glass’ style to some great filmmakers but I also got to add that we also get *SPOILERS* – A little sprinkle of the Daryl Hannah movie Attack of the 50ft Woman. I’m guessing the end was showing us what she believed to be her true steroid form. She had reached peak-ripped and felt so big, she felt she had the strength of a 1000 women…and the height too. The veins we see bulging from her skin throughout the movie with the icky sound design have finally torn, morphing her into some sort of super-sized anti-hero.
8/10 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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