4.5 out of 5.0 stars
Katy O’Brian has her star turn in a lineup of standout cast members in Rose Glass’ sophomore film “Love Lies Bleeding” which just received its wide release March 15. Not to say that the Kristen Stewart renaissance will not be in full swing after this movie, but it is wonderful to see someone come into their own on screen. In addition to the stellar leads, the film has excellent direction, symbolism and all-around strong performances from the entire cast.
Lou (Kristen Stewart) is a no-nonsense gym manager with more than a few skeletons in her closet. She is constantly being pursued by the free-spirited but unrelenting rough-around-the-edges Daisy (Anna Baryshnikov). Seemingly out of the blue, would-be bodybuilder Jackie (Katy O’Brian) rolls into town. Lou and Jackie quickly become infatuated with each other, but it leaves the question of if Lou’s dark past will destroy their connection.
As it happens, Lou’s past and Jackie’s dark present do catch up with the couple, yet this is not a typical crime thriller. Fueled by steroids, the first half of the film runs on tasteful eroticism, which still has a presence throughout the whole film. As the sex dries up, the rest of the story heats up.
Although this is only Glass’s second feature, she develops a clear narrative in her direction, building on to the screenplay of the same name that she co-wrote with Weronika Tofilska. She also reunited with previous collaborators from her debut feature “Saint Maud” including cinematographer Ben Fordesman and editor Mark Towns, whose work and attention to tiny details really help make the film.
You can’t look away from this film except during one particular scene with Dave Franco, who briefly appears as the deadbeat husband of Lou’s sister Beth, played by indie darling Jena Malone. Glass creates a world that draws you in from the first second and is unrelenting. Throughout the whole film, regardless of the content of any scene, there is never a beat missed.
Ed Harris, whose character resembles what I imagine the greeter at the gates of Hell to look like, is also heavily featured as Lou’s estranged father. He maintains a grounded persona up until the very end, when he lets loose and gives the audience a real treat. Baryshnikov also steals scenes as Daisy, a townie who is unrelenting in her affection for Lou, who couldn’t be less interested. Her painful disposition of unrequited love touches you through the screen, as I’m sure we all can relate to having been or knowing Daisy.
O’Brian’s performance was jaw-dropping for a variety of reasons. In an interview with SELF, the actress and bodybuilder said she worked 12+ hours a day on set before doing cardio and lifting for at least 3 hours every night to get her body into peak condition for the movie. While this would have been a challenging feat for anyone, O’Brian was doing all of this as she actively awaited surgery to help treat her for complications from Crohn’s disease. In the film, she owns the screen with both her physicality and the sheer confidence her character exudes.
While this film builds itself on being future cult classic material, the widespread appeal is undeniable. It’s campy but takes itself seriously at the same time. It blends genres as it establishes itself as a legitimate crime thriller in the second act but also isn’t afraid to embrace surrealism simultaneously. Though at its core, it can be acknowledged that the crime storyline does not matter because, at the end of the day, the film knows exactly what it is: a love story.
The movie seemingly takes inspiration from Luca Guadagnino’s cannibalism flick “Bones and All,” as it shares the theme of love being all-consuming. Instead, the love in this is an all-consuming addiction represented in passionate steroid use. As Jackie and Lou fall in love, they grow as people, representing that the love that devours them helps them come into their own together. The idea that love can make you feel ten feet tall, or in this case, much, much taller.
Not only is this film a prime example of excellent queer representation, but the chemistry between Stewart and O’Brian is probably the most electric thing to grace the silver screen in the past decade; it is not to be missed.
