_{By: Amanda Guarragi}

Love Lies Bleeding is a devilishly twisted Neo-noir thriller that explores female trauma, body image and familial issues. Director Rose Glass fully grasps the American West in the atmosphere she creates using the location of the desert and the backdrop of a beautiful starry night while toxic masculinity is present in a small town. There’s a subtle beauty when the world is quiet. The city is asleep, which can be alluring, and Glass offsets that with grotesque moments. Beauty can be found in the darkest places. It parallels the characters because there is much more to them than the facade they put on. Glass places the focus on bodies early in the film, the beauty of the skin, muscles flexing, and moisture forming on the brow during a workout, only to use the same frame compositions with destruction and mutilation. Lou (Kristen Stewart) works at her local gym and has a strained relationship with her father, Lou Sr. (Ed Harris). Lou also looks after her sister Beth (Jenna Malone), who is stuck in an abusive relationship with her husband JJ (Dave Franco). 

We see that Lou has lived a life that was never her own. She had to break free from her father’s control only to get stuck living in the city working at her local gym. The only reason Lou stays in this horrible position is to protect her sister Beth from her husband. When Lou sees Jackie (Katy O’Brian) for the first time at the gym, she takes a liking to her. It’s interesting to see their relationship unfold, considering Jackie’s backstory and her goal to go to a bodybuilding competition in Las Vegas. She was a drifter, and she went from town to town, fighting to get what she wanted no matter the cost. O’Brian’s performance in the first half of this film is strong. She’s aloof yet enticing. Once Lou and Jackie engage with each other, the chemistry between Stewart and O’Brian is the most interesting aspect of the film. Glass accurately depicts a budding queer romance and does not shy away from sexual intimacy either. Their relationship felt fresh and came through with how physical they were with one another. Glass explored the ups and downs of any normal relationship, except this one was far from it.

At times, it felt like Lou and Jackie were in a bubble. Nothing could tear them apart, and Lou would do anything to help Jackie. Lou even gives Jackie steroids to help her for the championship. Glass questions the concept of love and what lengths people would go to protect their loved ones. Lou appears to be a selfless person who has been through so much pain at the hands of misogynistic men that she has this anger within her. Stewart gives another compelling performance and is the one that holds the second half of this film together. Glass uses red lenses to show the anger and pain within Lou whenever she has the urge to kill. She stops herself from ever getting physical with anyone, but when she sees her sister brutally beaten, she has other ideas in her head. The turning point of the film is when Jackie loses her agency to the steroids. Glass depicts how harmful steroids can be through unique visuals that amplify the madness within. Jackie becomes a hulk of a character, and her story is cut short. It felt like her character growth was stunted, and she became a plot device for Lou as leverage for her father. 

There are plenty of surprises in Love Lies Bleeding in the second half of this film. But the ending felt so far-fetched that it took away a powerful moment between Lou and her father. Glass directed a compact, nightmarish Neo-noir that descends into the pits of the desert. The way the story unfolds is unexpected, and each twist adds another exceptional layer to Stewart’s performance. Some aspects may be done for shock value, but it only adds more fuel to the fire in this film. Once Jackie and Lou’s relationship reaches its peak, the world crumbles around them, and Lou has to fight the demons of her past to have a chance at a conventional life with Jackie. The main issue with the film is that it throws away Jackie’s character because Lou’s backstory is much more interesting than Jackie’s. At times, it felt like Jackie was empty, and the steroids became a crutch. There needed to be more of a balance between them for audiences to connect with Jackie so the visual effects of the steroids wouldn’t be so jarring. After watching Love Lies Bleeding and Saint Maud, Rose Glass is a unique filmmaker who unconventionally explores women’s stories.