Love Lies Bleeding

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Love Lies Bleeding is a crime thriller following Lou, a gym employee who has a crime boss father, and Jackie, a travelling bodybuilder. When the two become romantically entangled Lou's darker past and family threaten to destroy the love and life they have found with one another. Tested at every point, these two women must endure domestic violence, drug addiction and murder to find any hope of escape.

 

This is a film that really challenged me the whole way through, I felt like it would the moment the opening sequence went from this ethereal beauty to a bird's eye shot of a clogged toilet brimming with shit. That's the beauty and horror of Love Lies Bleeding for everything wondrous or romantic we must be grimly reminded of something ugly and hard to accept. The central relationship of Lou and Jackie is so electric and satisfying. These are at times starcrossed lovers meant to be, in other scenes you couldn't imagine two people worse for one another. And it makes sense right? The film is love Lies Bleeding, named for the plant Love-Lies-Bleeding; a plant that has symbolism of immortal love while also simultaneously representing hopeless love. A perfect symbol for the relationship that seems to be consuming itself. Lou and Jackie together feel strong and truly full of affection for one another. Yet their history and nature means that they are also the reason for one another's downfall. Lou is responsible for Jackie's addiction to steroids, while Lou pushes her vulnerable girlfriend into killing the man who is abusing her sister. It is only when an outside manipulating force attacks them both, in the form of Lou's father, that they come together to protect the person they love.This isn't the bubblegum queer story like Heartstopper or Red, White and Royal Blue nor is it the tragic 'kill your gays' trope coming home to roost once again. This is a deeply unique and creative queer narrative with a fascinating noir pulp setting and an intricate relationship at its core.

 

The way this film is shot is very graphic and arresting, the visuals are brutal and grimy. I felt like this film knew how to dance that line between grounded grit and fantastical imagery. The editing was very smooth, setting an often tense and frantic pace. It also had some brilliant, 70s/80s retro music video cutting to sequences that made this whole thing stand out like crazy. The soundtrack is a lot of fun and is filled with tracks that speak to the points of danger and change - with 'Transformation' by Nona Hendryx being an absolute standout scene. The score itself is anxiety-inducing, really seeping right into you while also holding a few faint tracks of optimistic hope.

 

Anna Baryshnikov, who played Daisy, is an extremely disarming and wild character in this; the way she portrays her intense infatuation for Stewart is alarming and makes for a dangerous role. Kristen Stewart, who played Lou, has found one of her career greats in this leading role; Stewart is so confident and in charge with this character both in her relationship and in her onscreen rivalry with Lou Sr. (Harris). Dave Franco, who played JJ, might be in one of his filthiest roles ever; Franco is portraying this vile thug who is abusive and an incredible creep to the female characters of the film. Ed Harris, who played Lou Sr., is not your typical antagonist with the Harris glower; this figure is a major manipulator and is more conniving than a physical threat in the feature. Orion Carrington, who played O'Riley, is quite a charismatic yet threatening figure in all this; this portrayal of an FBI agent feels like a force to be reckoned with despite his lower screen time.

However, the best performance came from Katy O'Brian, who played Jackie. This role is immensely interesting and a lot of what goes on with the two leads hinges on Jackie. The obvious component is how immensely physical this role is. Jackie is a bodybuilder and O'Brian has to get big for this role. But more than that she has to train for bodybuilder competition showmanship, posing and performance. This is an aspect of the character she has clearly put strong work into and achieves well. However, what separates this performance out is just how interesting she is; when first we meet her she is alone and has to make personal compromises to get work or a place to sleep. Yet she radiates joy and is quite a hopeful figure, she shines and it's no wonder that Stewart's character is so drawn to her. O'Brian and Stewart have phenomenal chemistry from the way they fall in love even to how intimate their points of conflict are. O'Brian's work to show Jackie as a vulnerable figure who doesn't know how to deal with complex things like Lou's pain so she responds with violence is interesting. Jackie is a rash person who barrels forwards; into aggression or into stereoids. Yet watching O'Brian portray the spiral and her role's reaction to the consequences of her actions is equally fantastic. Jackie is O'Brian's best work to date and squarely cements her as a genuine dramatic performer worth getting excited for in the years to come.

In the early beginnings of this film there is some great work done to create the two leads and how they come together in a very realistic way. I fell into their story because it was so neatly presented. This did result in the more crime family aspect feeling a little more fantastical when it was first introduced. It took some time for the movie to really work out how to blend the grounded elements of that with the heightened elements of that. There are also many moments depicting the obscene to make things go from bad to worse or to shake the audience back to reality. While I did like the thematic use of this style, I didn't feel like every instance of this was purposeful, resulting in some gross moments that felt excessive to the style.

Jena Malone, who played Beth, perhaps embraces the meek quality of her role too much; it is hard for Malone to leave an impression in her scenes and her character is more reduced to a glaring facial prosthetic than anything else.

 

I was horrified, transfixed, enamoured and sobered by this entire whirlwind of a film. I would give Love Lies Bleeding an 8/10.