Love Lies Bleeding: O Amor Sangra

When I saw the trailer for this film there was something that immediately attracted me to it. Yes the gritty set-in-the 80s look has been done before but seldom as well as this. The setting is bleak, the characters lost in various ways and the only ways out present great danger.

I was immediately drawn to the central characters and was invested in their plight. The film walks a fine line between gratuitous sex and violence and realism perfectly, however the film deviates into a fever dream that I for one loved. I will say that a film that takes as many risks as this will not be for everyone, but that's completely valid. Thank the heavens that there's still someone out there prepared to take the risk, stray from formula and let the audience decide.

Sadly the film isn't as amazing as I hoped it would be.

The two main characters have great chemistry and the style of the movie is pretty cool but the script is kinda lame. I don't mind a simple story but in this case it felt like there was missed potential somehow. I really expected to love this movie but even though it had some very nice moments and the direction was superb, it was a bit of a letdown.

I feel like there was nothing I could take away from the story - nothing I learned...

And at the same time, even though the style is cool, this type of look and music for a film of this genre is pretty standard these days when it comes to independent films. It's the old "Drive" Nicolas Winding Refn thing from the perspective of a female director. I feel like this type of movie is starting to get a bit old maybe.

This is definitely not a must-see, but you will probably have a good time in the cinema if you are into the trailer.

My first thought was it feels like the gym was depicted in the way someone who doesn't go to the gym imagines the gym is like. Like they watched Pumping Iron instead of visiting the nearest gym. It's like if Pumping Iron was a raunchy, lesbian, blood-soaked psychedelic experience. With a dash of crime family drama.

I found the cinematography of the movies to be quite impressive; it had a captivating aesthetic. Although it's not on an epic scale and mostly unfolds in remote settings, it's mesmerizingly filmed with themes of sex and violence. The characters are pretty good, so were the actors playing them. Kristen Stewart was Kristen Stewart, I think you already know what to expect when you see her in a movie, and I think she was pretty good. It took me a while to realize I recognized Katy O'Brian from The Mandalorian. I loved that she was homeless but still working out; if she can get swole living under a bridge, what's your excuse? Lol.

Theres a huge emphasis on smoking and drugs, it's a pretty big theme and mostly referenced on the radio. The story is alright, there's a love, crime and family drama.

It's quite raunchy. I wasn't expecting that, but I suppose the movie did give off those vibes. I just didn't watch any trailers or anything and went in blind. It also included some other adult/mature content like domestic violence. It's quite gory as well. Initially, it felt like it was penned by a man; I was surprised to learn it was written/directed by a woman afterward. I recall thinking that there will probably be a lot of people commenting on this, expressing their displeasure with how women are portrayed in movies written by men.

The movie had several moments where I thought to myself, well that's taken a weird turn. It gets more weird and weirder the longer in goes. It's really weird that it was common/normal back then to just hit your wife. It was jarring to watch. Franco's character is probably the worst one.

It's also one of those movies where none of the characters are good people, it's just bad people making bad decisions, in the name of love. I didn't really find myself rooting for anyone and l didn't feel particularly attached to the movie as a whole. I feel like it could've been better, and by better I mean more psychedelic, more violent, maybe even disturbing. It's not a movie for everyone, but it's pretty interesting and I enjoyed it. I like it but I don't know if it'll still be on my mind a month from now.

'Love Lies Bleeding (2024)' is a sweaty, grimy, bloody romantic crime thriller about a disillusioned woman who falls in love with a bodybuilding hitchhiker whose steroid-infused rage soon lands both of them in big trouble. It unashamedly - proudly, even - takes the often explicitly cishet, masculine revenge/crime-gone-wrong genre and tells it from a distinctly LGBT+, feminine angle that doesn't feel exploitative despite its graphic nature. It also doesn't box itself in with that 'feminine' label, allowing its female characters to exist with all the complexities and imperfections usually afforded to their male counterparts. It's refreshing to see a story like this be told from a creative team of primarily women, and director Rose Glass continues to impress with her sophomore feature. Filled with palpable texture and peppered with moments of stark surrealism, the feature typically avoids convention despite telling a fairly conventional tale. It's the kind of film you can almost smell, a dirty and down-to-earth representation of small-town America that's the opposite of 'Hollywood' (whatever that term is typically associated with). Its moments of shocking violence punctuate the interpersonal drama at its core and inherently raise its stakes. Kristen Stewart is really good a Lou, with a non-showy performance that feels tactile and real. She's able to hide a real darkness just beneath her shy yet brash exterior, and her initially meek interactions with Katy O'Brian believably bubble into the full-blown immersion associated with head-over-heels love. O'Brian turns in similarly impressive work, portraying a dangerous but vulnerable person whose inner life is layered and messy and likely not all that much more stable prior to her experiments with steroids. She's so ripped she could easily play She-Hulk without the aid of CGI (which, incidentally, I'd love to see), but it isn't her stunning physique that leaves the strongest impression and that's no easy feat. The supporting cast do a good job at making the world feel palpable, with Ed Harris' hair extensions always threatening to outact everyone they share a frame with (Harris himself is good too, of course) and Dave Franco channeling his brother to convincingly play a real creep (and somehow garner a hint of sympathy with a single word in his most memorable scene). Although it's not always as exciting or intense as I'd like, the piece has a strong atmosphere throughout and its world really does feel tangible. Its complex characters constantly reveal darker and darker aspects of themselves, all while its heroes fall deeper and deeper into an all consuming romance that might just doom them both. Its infrequent violence is as shocking as it is affecting, and its confident surrealism gives it a slightly ambiguous air that adds to its overall effect. It's a strong example of female and LGBT+ representation, too. It's not as good as Glass' previous picture, 'Saint Maude (2019)', but it's a really solid follow-up that's effective pretty much across the board.

Let me preface this review that I liked both characters, loved the gritty atmosphere and the outstanding cinematography and production design. Unfortunately the great direction can not substitute an unfocused script. The heavy-handed metaphors are superfluous and it reminded me of another A24 gamble that missed it's mark called Lamb (2021). It never really knows what it really wants to be: gritty crime thriller or drama ,it falls short in both genres. And depending on your suspension of disbelief the ending will be hit or miss. The movie does something towards the end, which will split the audience. Some people will love it, others wil be confused. I found it to be a creative cop-out. It is unnecessarily pretentious, because up to this point the movie was doing fine: a bit illogical, but a good ending would have still managed catch the curve. There's also a problem with the character of Jackie being quite underdeveloped. It's not the actresses' fault, both actresses deliver damn good performances, especially with the pastiche dialogues. It's just sems like you have seen it all before, but better. Especially the presence of Ed Harris invoked memories of Cronenberg's History of Violence, but whereas Cronenberg manages to ride the fine line between comical/surreal exagerration and authentic drama. Love Lies Bleeding tries to do go all in on caricature and loses it's gamble. It's a shame because I liked the epilogue, even the end credits are charming. But it's that crucial piece near the end, that never provided that heartfelt catharsis or an inventive solution. It's still an entertaining movie overall , it's best though to lower expectations towards the end.