Love hurts - we find ourselves falling over and over again, and it seems we hit the ground harder each time. However, in this remote New Mexico town, you'll find yourself falling into a deep dark hole where all hell will be unleashed. Love pries open the past like a crowbar pulling the nails from the coffin, and when the truth is revealed nothing will ever be the same. Rose Glass’ Love Lies Bleeding shows love as such a painful act; we hurt the ones we love, they hurt us, and we see them hurt so badly that we can’t do anything to console or heal. So all that we have left is rage. A rage as big as our love, and maybe even bigger than that.

 

In the film, Lou (Stewart) falls hard over Jackie (O’ Brian) as if it’s love at first sight. Jackie’s a drifter hitchhiking her way to a bodybuilder’s convention in Las Vegas who just happens to come into Lou’s gym at the right place and the right time. However it seems that Jackie has already found herself caught in Lou’s web already when they’ve started a fiery romance as Jackie is working for Lou’s estranged father, Lou Sr (Harris). As things get more and more complicated, Lou and Jackie decide to finally fight back so that their love can survive. It’s a powerful driving force behind the film supported by an infectiously romantic duel lead performance, with lean and mean filmmaking that is some of the most invigorating cinema you’ll find all year. 

 

Glass’s filmmaking is absolutely break-neck here with a pulpy edge to the film that enhances the grime and grunge surrounding the visual identity of the film. There’s also a fascinating dream-like presentation in between Jackie and Lou’s perspective’s through the film, and it really heightens their romance to something incredibly infectious, and sexy. Stewart and O’ Brian really sell the film as if they are head over heels themselves for each other, which makes their opposite meaner quirks of their performances shine even more. These two lead performances are infectiously romantic, but they also have a supreme amount of anger in them. As if both are attempting to say different statements about how they have been perceived through a male dominated industry.  There’s other great performances in the film as well, such as Jenna Malone and Dave Franco, however, the real scene stealer here is Ed Harris who is giving a stone cold performance here as the villain, and it’s such a magnetic presence as he’s able to make this filthy movie feel even nastier with incredibly bold decisions in his performance.

 

Love Lies Bleeding is a lean, mean, nasty, crazy, hilarious and romantic cinematic cocktail that’s filled with invigorating filmmaking, top shelf performances, and a whole lot left to chew on after you’ve left the theater. After her debut Saint Maud, Rose Glass further evolves her form and voice in such exciting ways, it’s hard not to get excited for what she sends down the pipeline next. Love Lies Bleeding will go down as one of the most essential films of 2024. No doubt.