There’s certain actors, when put in the right roles, that just exhibit an indescribable magnetism. Katy M. O’Brian fits that bill as a lean, mean, vascular work of art – an idea that rarely escapes the purview of director Rose Glass’ luring camera. O’Brian plays Jackie, an “all nattie” bodybuilder with no immediate family, no friends, and no outside prospects besides a desire to climb to the top of the bodybuilding world. Whatever steady work she can find (and whatever unsavory deeds are needed to obtain said work) is only a means to fund this goal. Which makes her quite the vulnerable conquest for Lou (Kristen Stewart), a hapless young woman who takes a romantic liking to Jackie and that unbelievable physique.
Set in the late 80s, Love Lies Bleeding is an erotic thriller that shares more than a few strands of DNA with the likes of Bound (1996) and Monster (2003). The movie explores a level of sexuality (and at times – depravity) that may be off-putting to some viewers. But the film’s thematic resonance lies in its examination of masculine boundaries to female liberation – and the kinship and romance needed to break free from those boundaries. Jackie and Lou are adults responsible for their own actions, but their options are deliberately governed by the men in their lives.
If there’s one glaring criticism that can easily be made: sometimes the caricatures can be too on the nose. Dave Franco seems determined to play the sleaziest guy of all time, an abusive/womanizing goober that’s about a couple receding hair strands away from Les Grossman. Also, given what James has done with the Franco name in recent years, bold to even play this type of character at all. It’s a cartoonish portrayal, but one that has sort of a strange fascination to it, like watching a car wreck. Ed Harris plays a more toned down version of the “evil man” character the movie is going for. But Harris’ performance seems limited by the constraints of typical crime movie tropes, which appear to be at odds with some of the film’s bolder and riskier swings. The writing for both of these antagonists is somewhat flawed, but Franco has the more interesting energy and screen presence.
Glass and her team shoot the movie with precision, aiming for propulsive editing in the film’s most memorable montages. Some of these sequences could fit nicely in a music video, with the sound design and score harboring a rhythmic fire. Jackie is spotlighted like a Greek God, a showcase that fuses the aspirational fitness of an Arnold Schwarzenegger with the typical gaze of the female form. The use of O’Brian’s physique is at once a subversion of how the male form was used to sell young boys on perverse dreams at the peak of 1980s macho culture, but is also conflated with interesting thoughts on sexuality. Jackie’s body is presented as idealistic and inhabits a masculine space, yet she’s also established as a sexual being of fervent desire. The men see her as someone to be obtained, but even Lou (despite their queer bond) fetishizes her.
Stewart plays Lou like a chameleon who holds up the immoral activity of her family’s crime business but exhibits enough kindness to be capable of change. Her first on-screen appearance is cleaning a mess, and she ends up making some of her own. Stewart plays it smartly, like she’s at the seat of her pants, but she can’t anticipate how off the rails her bad decisions will take things. She’s a nice foil for Jackie, who’s striving for perfection, and that’s why Lou admires her – Jackie (mostly) has her shit together.
Seeing the chemistry between the two leads is palpable, with Stewart effectively convincing the audience that she’s met the love of her life, getting intimate but also playfully affectionate in ways that do not seem like they’re meant for public eyes. It’s that relationship and the two lead performances that carry the movie. The film has a busy script, and I don’t believe all of the plot conventions work, especially in a convoluted 3rd act that may have you questioning where everything is going. Despite this, Love Lies Bleeding is a memorable experience of trippy decadence. It’s a colorful movie full of charismatic characters in a grimy word of flawed individuals making disastrous choices. But despite the darkness of the story, the film is fun and strikingly beautiful. It leaves you to ponder what it takes to be happy, what are healthy goals, and what will love drive you to do?
It’s also just a movie you can absorb on a very surface level, taking in the film’s egregious violence, dramatic intensity, and brief moments of levity. For anyone looking at the movie on a deeper level, there will be just as many viewers wondering why Anna Baryshnikov’s teeth are so fucked up or appreciating Kristen Stewart’s believable improv skills during the film’s funniest moment of absurdity. Thelma and Louise from a different lens, its characters ache to create a destiny they’ll have a say in, even if that path is tracked in blood. If you have to ask to be free, then you never will be.
