Love Lies Bleeding Review

Love Lies Bleeding is Directed by Rose Glass and Stars Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian

Review: There’s really nothing like Love Lies Bleeding. I don’t necessarily subscribe to the blanket notion that they don’t make movies like they used to anymore – but I will say, Hollywood hasn’t consistently made films as erotic and thrilling like this since the 1980s and 90s. Rose Glass directs the dynamic duo of Katy O’Brian and Kristen Stewart.

Katy O'Brian and Kristen Stewart in Love Lies Bleeding (2024), directed by Rose Glass — Katy O’Brian and Kristen Stewart in Love Lies Bleeding (2024), directed by Rose Glass

Love Lies Bleeding marks a significant shift in tone and style for its writer/director Rose Glass from her directorial debut, Saint Maud, from 2020. Where that movie chose to bathe in the folk terror of a young girl coming face-to-face with death, Love Lies Bleeding shifts to a throwback era of grimy eroticism centered around one chance encounter in a dimly-lit gym.

The gym is looked over (kind of) by Lou (Kristen Stewart), who instantly shows an angrier side than her physique suggests. She’s countered by the men and women that frequently pump iron in the shady, noirish walls of this establishment. But she can take their punches (literally) and is only fragile for a split-second when she meets aspiring bodybuilder Jackie (Katy O’Brian).

And from there, Love Lies Bleeding descends into one of the more chaotic sets of events you’ll see in a movie 2024, spawning a string of murders, family disputes, and chase sequences that all culminate in one larger-than-life event that you’d only believe by laying your eyes on it. Love Lies Bleeding doesn’t hold its cards back – it shows you everything its got (and some).

And it’s clear that Rose Glass has the chops to conceive of a story as diverse and unique as any new director working. If for nothing else, Love Lies Bleeding is a movie unlike anything I’ve ever seen before – daring, brash, and absolutely gnarly. It’s visceral as hell – doing its best Darren Aronofsky impression (this time a compliment!) – but it never feels cheap or forced.

Kristen Stewart unsurprisingly steals the show, offering a physical performance in a world that seems to be stronger than her around every turn. But she’s able to compartmentalize and overcome the brutality of her circumstances, escaping death around many of corners.

There’s a great supporting cast to match her, too, from Katy O’Brian leaping off screen in a part that’s equally strong and insecure in waves, and two menacing performances by the men in their lives – Ed Harris and Dave Franco.

Love Lies Bleeding isn’t without its flaws, though, including a script that has to go to great lengths to find its own legs. At times it feels aimless, often over-engineering toward a finale that does work, but may feel out of place considering the brutal world of violence and death that comes before it.

But even with that critique, there’s nothing really like Love Lies Bleeding. I don’t necessarily subscribe to the blanket notion that they don’t make movies like they used to anymore – but I will say, Hollywood hasn’t consistently made captivating erotic thrillers like this since the 1980s and 90s. Hopefully this is a trend in the right direction.