Love Lies Bleeding

"Love Lies Bleeding proves that gay women of color—who have both physical strength and emotional intricacies—are to be made visible, worshiped, and understood."

Title: Love Lies Bleeding (2024)
Director: Rose Glass 👩🏼🇬🇧
Writers: Rose Glass 👩🏼🇬🇧 and Weronika Tofilska 👩🏼🇬🇧

Reviewed by Weiting 👩🏻🇨🇳🇺🇸

—MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD—

Technical: 3.5/5

Following her 2019 debut feature, Saint Maud, writer-director Rose Glass uses her sophomore film Love Lies Bleeding to again explore the theme of obsession. But this time, the thriller earnestly dissects how far people go for true love. Co-written by Weronika Tofilska and starring Kristen Stewart and Katy O'Brian, this edgy tragicomedy opts for a fluid narrative laced with dark humor and body horror that shocked audiences at its Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

In the movie itself, it’s 1980s New Mexico and we find ourselves in a quintessential American small town. Angsty gym manager Lou (Stewart) meets the unhoused, ever-grinding bodybuilder Jackie (O'Brian) and instantly falls in lust. The feelings quickly become mutual; after spending the night together, Jackie moves into Lou's apartment. What follows is a lot of sex, weightlifting, and doping that glues the couple together. Meanwhile, Lou's crime lord dad, Lou Sr. (Ed Harris), and her dirtbag brother-in-law JJ (Dave Franco) threaten to ruin their hopes and dreams. Lou and Jackie scramble to keep their flame burning despite the mounting pressures of past traumas, jealousy, and violence.

Despite such heavy material, Glass and Tofilska find tongue-in-cheek humor within this twisted romance. Stewart's comically wide-eyed performance showcases her character’s fervor towards Jackie, and for her part, O'Brian shines even brighter with a sensual onscreen presence that balances physical strength with emotional vulnerability.

The writing sometimes takes a backseat to make room for Glass and cinematographer Ben Fordesman’s dramatic visuals, with logical details handwaved away. And Jackie’s sudden outbursts of violence feel jarring—any explanations in her backstory would’ve gone a long way into grounding her motivations. But the wild ride of woozy slow-mos and shaky handheld shots, accompanied by Clint Mansell's hypnotic score, still take you from Jackie and Lou's getaway car all the way to cloud nine.

Gender: 5/5
Does it pass the Bechdel Test? YES

Written and directed by women, Love Lies Bleeding depicts an amoral lesbian romance that's rarely been seen, and therefore, worth celebrating. The film portrays two deeply flawed women going through the messy feelings of falling in love and acting out from their repressed desires.

Both leads harbor intense rage before meeting each other—Lou towards Lou Sr. and JJ, and Jackie towards herself who, without any money or support system, can't seem to live up to her potential as a bodybuilder. Lou and Jackie’s romantic and sexual dynamics instantly become codependent, and they enable bad decision-making in each other: As JJ keeps beating Lou's sister Beth (Jena Malone), a steroid-pumped Jackie kills him. In turn, Lou starts a series of cover-ups for Jackie by framing her abusive dad for the murder.

And even though Beth is written as an one-dimensional stereotype of a helpless housewife who just won't leave her abusive husband, Love Lies Bleeding is a case of “more is more”: With female characters in a variety of roles, the occasional flat one is a lot easier to forgive. Furthermore, Beth’s existence serves female storylines, with her misplaced love for JJ presented as a foil to Jackie and Lou's hatred of men who hurt women.

Race: 4/5

Jackie and Lou's relationship avoids the potential pitfall of a partner of color catering to their white partner (see: A Bronx Tale's Jane putting up with Calogero and his family's racism). Instead, it's refreshing to watch Jackie, played by O’Brian (who has Irish and African American ancestry), be her complete self—both the good and the bad—as Lou is the supportive partner who has to clean up after her.

Compared to Lou, who mostly exists to admire Jackie’s body and soul, Jackie has the more compelling role that puts to use O'Brian's years of bodybuilding and martial arts experience. Even as Jackie leaves everything behind (including Lou) to march towards her goal of winning the Las Vegas bodybuilding championship, we can’t help but to root for her. Win or lose, it’s admirable for Jackie to strive against all the odds stacked against her.

Bonus for LGBTQ: +1.00

Although it centers around a lesbian couple, played by out bisexual and lesbian actors, Love Lies Bleeding transcends simplistic labels of identity and sexuality. Instead, Glass focuses on making these queer characters painfully relatable—all of us trying to be on the right path, with the right person, making so many mistakes along the way. And with Glass behind the camera, who has a knack for making thought-provoking films that feature lesbian relationships, this makes an exciting addition to her evolving repertoire.

Mediaversity Grade: A- 4.50/5

While Love Lies Bleeding has a small cast, precluding a wide assortment of diverse characters, it digs deep into the development of one lesbian couple. Multiracial actor O'Brian nails Jackie, the cornerstone and goddess of the film, creating cinematic proof that gay women with physical strength and emotional intricacies are to be made visible, worshiped, and understood.

Like Love Lies Bleeding? Try these other titles starring female competitors.

Grade: ALiMarch 7, 2024Female/Nonbinary Creator, Great for: LGBTQ, Great for: Gender