The things we do for love
I was pretty cold on Rose Glass’s directorial debut Saint Maud, her 2021 psychological horror collaboration with A24. She showed promise as a director, but I didn’t really connect with the movie. An instance where I admired it more than I liked it. With her sophomore effort Love Lies Bleeding, it’s clear she has the juice. Glass has crafted neo-noir lesbian erotic crime thriller that’s as explosive in its intimate moments as it is when the trigger is pulled.
What Glass has done is funnel her influences into a massively entertaining film that owes a great a debt to such works as Wachowskis’ Bound and those of Nicolas Winding Refn. The Refn comparison feels especially apt, since this comes complete with flashes of imagery under the glow of an otherworldly light (for Refn, it was various neon colors; here a giallo red), as well as a pulsing score from Clint Mansell that frequently evokes Refn’s collaborations with Cliff Martinez. Bound’s influences feel obvious, and this would make for a killer double feature.
We’ve known for a while now how great Kristen Stewart is, and she continues to knock it out of the park, able to switch on a dime from anxious & scared to dry & caustic. Dave Franco sports a mustache and mullet that does a surprisingly good job at making it hard to recognize him, as does his ability to play a complete scumbag really well, while the always reliable Ed Harris wears sinister with ease. The standout here, though, is Katy O’Brian. She has such a raw physical magnetism in this as a bodybuilder pulled into the center of a dark world unprepared for her. O’Brian’s chemistry with Stewart is off the charts, too. You can’t take your eyes off of them.
If there’s anywhere the film might falter a bit, it’s in its brief moments where it dips its toe into the fantastical. There are some gnarly Cronenbergian images of O’Brian, her muscles flexing and contorting in ways that feel otherworldly. How it ultimately plays into the film is about as A24 as many may come to expect, but I’m not certain how well it works based on how the film presents it. Perhaps with time and deeper analyses from people smarter than me, it may work better. At the very least, it’s fascinating to witness. A24 has found another creative voice that’s able to evoke influences while channeling them into a wholly unique vision, and I hope they continue to give Glass the leeway to make whatever she wants.
Love Lies Bleeding feels like the heir to the throne that Bound has resided upon the last 28 years, and I feel like with time and repeat viewings, this may even come close to rivaling it as well. It’s sexy, violent and a hell of a good time.
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