In Love Lies Bleeding, an ampoule full of steroids becomes the first cautious token of love between two women. One is gym manager Lou (Kristen Stewart) and the other is bodybuilder Jackie (Katy O’Brian). She can really use the growth hormones because she wants to get on stage for a competition in Las Vegas and triumph among the muscle-bound competition.
Rose Glass’s film, which is being shown as a special gala at the 74th Berlinale, shows the emerging relationship between the two women in the 80s. However, their love is swallowed up by the ugly depths of the small town somewhere in New Mexico where Lou and Jackie meet. Like Love Lies Bleeding from a physical love film to a pulp thriller with shocking excesses of violence is a stirring and thrilling trip.
Berlinale thriller with Kristen Stewart shocks with violent spikes
At the beginning, Rose Glass primarily observes Kristen Stewart’s Lou, who was condemned as an outsider in the small town as a lesbian woman. The former Twilight star plays the main character as withdrawn and plagued by a lot of frustration like a human pressure vessel.
Jackie ultimately turns out to be an outlet to let out the pent-up feelings. For the director, the tramp is initially more body than character. This is what Ben Fordesman’s camera does every inflated muscle part of the bodybuilder with the awe-struck look of Lou away.
Plaion Pictures
Love Lies Bleeding
The aforementioned vial of steroids ultimately sparks a stormy romance between the two. Carefully separating egg yolks to keep the fat content lower for Jackie’s omelette is the kind of passion that Love Lies Bleeding celebrates.
Yes, Lou guards secrets that slowly want to break out. Entangled in the manageable network of characters full of memorable hairstyles is Lou’s father (Ed Harris), who runs a shooting range and is involved in criminal activities. And Lou’s sister Beth (Jena Malone), who suffers from the abuse of her violent husband JJ (Dave Franco).
In order to earn money, Jackie takes a job with Lou’s father at the beginning of the film, without knowing the family circumstances. When the situation between Beth and JJ, who also works at the shooting range, escalates, the bodybuilder finally turns into Lou’s extended arm. At this point it will not be revealed what exactly happens.
The sight of Dave Franco’s jawafter Jackie is done with his character, caused hysterical and shocked laughter from me at the press screening.
You can watch a trailer for Love Lies Bleeding here:
Love Lies Bleeding – Trailer 2 (English) HD
Under the surface of Love Lies Bleeding there is a surreal bubbling
In Rose Glass’ film, however, it’s not just a corpse that now has to be disposed of as unnoticed as possible. Lou would much rather use the opportunity to finally bring her father to ruin and come to terms with her drastic past and ancestry.
But Jackie cannot be exploited so easily for her own purposes. After the unexpected outbreak of violence The strength athlete’s body increasingly becomes a dangerous component that Lou cannot easily tame.
With her feature film debut Saint Maud, Rose Glass previously made a horror film in which a religious nurse falls victim to mental and physical delusions. Love Lies Bleeding now only touches on these horror elements, but the director doesn’t want to do without them entirely.
When Jackie tenses her growth hormone-boosted muscles, her body repeatedly swells so much as if she were a member of the Marvel Avengers. There is also a surreal sequence in which the bodybuilder Kristen Stewart’s character pukes up and Lou lies on the floor covered in slime like in an Alien film.
Does Lou need Jackie to fulfill her unfulfilled desires and brutal frustrations? Or is Lou rather the driving force that drives the bodybuilder to unimagined peak performance? Love Lies Bleeding combines both ideas into a dicey neo-noir showdown that furiously pushes the thriller part of Rose Glass’ film and the stormy romance to the extreme.
Love Lies Bleeding is running as a special gala at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival. A German cinema release has not yet been confirmed.