This review will contain spoilers for Love Lies Bleeding. I suggest you see the movie first and form your own opinion.
Love Lies Bleeding is the second film from director Rose Glass. Rose Glass’ prior movie Saint Maude was a very psychedelic horror movie and I was excited to see how she would tackle an action crime movie and I think she pulled it off very well. The movie was constantly surprising and I couldn’t tell what was going to happen next. The movie follows gym owner Lou (played by Kristen Stewart) and her bodybuilder girlfriend Jackie (played by Katy O’Brian) as they try to cover up a murder while trying to escape the grasp of Lou’s criminal father (played by Ed Harris)
Every character is believable and well-fleshed out, even when the characters were doing horrible crimes I could still empathize with them and understand why the characters made the decisions they did. The only story issue I had was Jackie’s motivation to kill JJ. I didn’t get the impression that she was willing to do something so violent and brutal. Other than that I think the story is good and very solid.
The visuals in the movie were really good. I could really feel the heat in every scene. Even scenes set in the night still managed to look warm and dry. Every scene is very warm and really fits the vibe of the movie perfectly. It really reminded me of the time I’ve spent in Arizona. The flashback scenes were also shot well. Sticking to only using red and black really helped to emphasize how impactful and traumatic these scenes were.
I don’t think that all the visuals in the movie were perfect, One of my biggest issues comes at the end of the movie when Jackie suddenly transforms into a giant to fight Lou’s father. I don’t think that it was built up to enough, there were scenes with trippy visuals when Jackie was using a ton of steroids, but it was only things like people’s pupils growing large and hearing things that weren’t being said. All of those things are easy to imagine when you’re hallucinating, but growing to the size of a building felt very out of left field.
Overall I think Love Lies Bleeding is a very unique and refreshing crime thriller. Even though I have some issues I think that it’s nothing too damning to the overall film. I am very excited to see what Rose Glass will make in the future.
