Hopes to reach iconic status doesn’t just lie with Loves Lies Bleeding's lesbian-erotic crime spin, but also its bizarre body horror, which during the final act reaches peak heights - literally.
There’s clear vision within Love Lies Bleeding, but it all feels a bit shallow.
The extremely basic story is the main source of why this work suffers. Complexity is absent from the picture.
We’ve seen this type of story many times before. Love Lies Bleeding just supplements it with lesbian, steroid-fueled edge - alongside some gore.
While it features at least one scene that will make your jaw drop in bemusement, it doesn’t quite fulfill the overall experience.
More layers were needed to enhance the quality of this vision from second-time feature director, Rose Glass.
The Love Lies Bleeding cast attend the premiere in Los Angeles
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Kristen Stewart plays Lou, a quiet but tough gym manager, isolated in a town she feels resentful of, only staying because her sister Beth (Jena Malone) is getting beat up by her husband JJ (Dave Franco).
She also has a criminal dad (Ed Harris) who has murdered his fair share of people.
Lucky for Lou, Jackie (Katy M O'Brian) stops through town on her travels to Vegas for a women’s body-building competition, financing herself through prostitution and acquiring a new job working for Lou’s dad.
The two women meet at the gym and after locking eyes, Lou invites Jackie into the back room to shoot up with body-enhancing drugs to buff up the muscle.
Jackie claims her muscular physique is natural, but doesn’t resist the temptation to get a shot of steroids in her backside.
The two women then engage in sex, resulting in Jackie staying with Lou. However, the connection between the two is unsettled by the revelation of Jackie’s sexual activity with men and her emotional involvement in Lou’s family life, spiraling into an uncontrolled rage, leaving Lou to clean up the messy collateral damage of Jackie’s new-found strength and their steamy romance.
Love Lies Bleeding may have an impressive cast, but even that fails to make the experience worth-while.
The on-screen talent feels wasted due to surface-level characters that have been cloned from the average American grindhouse flick. Again, highlighting the poor quality of the screenplay.
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It’s not all dire throughout. Thankfully, the absurdity of the gore and body horror brings a source of entertainment, although the moments are few and far between.
Lou’s desperate admirer Daisy (Anna Baryshnikov) brings with her some laughs and hysteria that’s desperately needed among the bland storytelling.
If you were excited about what Glass could do next after her impressive psychological horror debut Saint Maud (2019), Love Lies Bleeding may come as a disappointment despite the higher budget on display.
Glass’s previous work upheld originality and authenticity, whereas this latest entry feels too on-the-nose and desperate, potentially leaving behind the legacy of a tick-box exercise in the age of film production fanatical about identity politics trends.
Words by Bobby Charlton.
