Love Lies Bleeding

Love Lies Bleeding

25/9/2024 1h 44m 6.6/10

Overview

Reclusive gym manager Lou falls hard for Jackie, an ambitious bodybuilder headed through town to Las Vegas in pursuit of her dream. But their love ignites violence, pulling them deep into the web of Lou’s criminal family.

Director

Rose Glass

Top Billed Cast

Kristen Stewart

Kristen Stewart

Lou

Dave Franco

Dave Franco

JJ

Ed Harris

Ed Harris

Lou Sr.

Jena Malone

Jena Malone

Beth

Katy O'Brian

Katy O'Brian

Jackie

Anna Baryshnikov

Anna Baryshnikov

Daisy

Reviews

Cinema_Snobb

5/1/2024

3/10

There are few things worse in films than when a film tries too hard to be edgy. This fools some of the people some of the time. But...it also shows that the emperor really does have no clothes. Kristen Stewart plays Lou, a gym worker who develops a crush on a female bodybuilder named Jackie. They begin a sexual relationship. Lou's father, played by Ed Harris is the town thug, and her sister is repeatedly abused by her creepy brother-in-law JJ (Dave Franco). Violence erupts and soon everyone is scrambling to cover up a murder. The film starts out interesting enough as it builds the characters. By the second half it has begun spiraling as it shifts between so many tones that you don't know which ones to move with. A lot of unintentional laughs and head scratching get more frequent. By the end it is all out terrible. Another serious problem is the way they treat abuse victims. The very people who are defending her...later in the movie are beating her. This is our hero? Kristen Stewart is a good actress, but Ed Harris is by far the best thing in the movie. The problem is that none of the characters become well fleshed out. None of them are worth hoping for. I don't need my characters I watch to be pleasant, but they need to show some kind of attributes that make them worth following from start until finish.

CinemaSerf

CinemaSerf

5/4/2024

6/10

"Lou" (Kristen Stewart) runs a gym on the basis of being as obnoxious to the customers (mostly brain-dead males) as she can until one night she espies a new visitor. She assumes that "Jackie" (Katy O'Brian) has gone off with the boys for a beer, but a chance encounter afterwards in the car park makes it clear they are both on the same team. We (the audience) have met "Jackie" already and know she's looking for work. That comes via "JJ" (Dave Franco) who takes her to the shooting range owned by the long haired and hippy looking Ed Harris who gives her a job as a waitress. Quickly we discover that "JJ" is married to "Beth" (Jena Malone) who is the sister of "Lou" and both are the daughters of Ed Harris. "Lou", though, is a bit estranged from him and as the plot thickens we discover why. Also, we discover that "JJ" is a bit of a thug and prone to beating up his wife. A trip to the hospital for her causes tempers to flare, and pumped full of steroids, it's the increasingly unstable "Jackie" who sets things in motion that are going to bring to an head a decade of family tensions, put lives at risk and even drag in the FBI. Aside from the same sex angle, there is nothing new at all to this half-hearted relationship drama that contrives to introduce just about everything to go wrong that can and in the end seems to be trying more to parody "The Incredible Hulk" than make headway with anything different. The denouement is weak and surreal on just about every level, too. Just because Rose Glass decides to feature loads of turbulent female bonding and making out doesn't make this worth watching. It just looks like a self indulgent and proud statement of sexuality for the sake of it, regardless of the strength or brutality of the story. People have been making characterful lesbian films in Europe for a century or more, this isn't remotely revelatory. Dark humour? Hmmm - must have missed that bit.

Similar Movies

The Dark Knight

8.5

The Dark Knight

2008

The Godfather Part II

8.6

The Godfather Part II

1974

Ocean's Eleven

7.5

Ocean's Eleven

2001

A Clockwork Orange

8.2

A Clockwork Orange

1971

Minority Report

7.3

Minority Report

2002

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

6.4

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

2014

Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself

6.5

Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself

2002

Lucky Number Slevin

7.5

Lucky Number Slevin

2006

Arsenic and Old Lace

7.6

Arsenic and Old Lace

1944

The Interpreter

6.3

The Interpreter

2005

Boys Don't Cry

7.4

Boys Don't Cry

1999

The Good German

5.8

The Good German

2006