Love Lies Bleeding (2024)

"I fucking love you, you idiot."

I went to see this with someone and it was quite interesting having to sit next to her the whole time. I thought it was overall an enjoyable movie with a great balance of romance, gore, and storytelling. I'm glad that she found it enjoyable as well, otherwise it would be extremely awkward. 

The movie itself is quite intriguing. From the body shots to the quick jump-cuts to red scenes, I actually really enjoyed the cinematography of this film. For those saying that it was pure fetish content for "muscle mommies" clearly didn't watch the movie in its entirety. The movie is so much more than showing off people working out in the gym and muscular bodies. 

I think Kristen Stewart did an amazing job acting in this film. I thought that the showcase of difficult familial relationships was extremely touching and almost a bit triggering, but in an accurately, hits-close-to-home way. I'm still new to the cinema scene, but I found it touching and admirable that it was depicted in such an accurate way as someone that came from a similar situation. I thought the film did a great job highlighting the difficulty between wanting to help someone in that situation and knowing that there is little to nothing to be done. It's very much stuck between a rock in a hard place. Kristen Stewart's character, Lou, does a phenomenal job encapsulating both the frustration and helplessness felt in those kinds of situations. 

I also think the film did an amazing job showcasing WLW, sapphic relationships. It clearly was more than a surface-level relationship, which is nice to see showcased in a movie. It shows the tribulations, frustration, heartbreak, and most importantly, devotion between two people in an LGBT+ relationship. I really liked that this was shown, including the sexual scenes, that it didn't just imply it, but fully showed what it's like being in a lesbian relationship. I believe Kristen Stewart had some part in how the scenes were portrayed, or at least in an interview she attested to the fact that she really wanted this film to be different in showcasing sapphic relationships and their "rawness," because what we see in cinema currently "just isn't how it is in real life," or something along those lines. 

While some people are confused about Jackie growing giant at the end, I believe that with some deeper analysis, it serves as a metaphor for multiple things. Jackie's growing dependency on steroids, her growing desire for Lou, her growing frustration with the situation she and Lou were put in, etc. I think some scenes were interesting in choice, such as Lou quite literally smoking over a dead body towards the ending of the film. As stated previously, I believe that the film does a great job with storytelling, but leaves enough up to the viewer to think about and form their own conclusions for scenes within the movie. 

The movie started off really slow for me, but once it started picking up towards the middle/ending of the second act. That's when I really had the "oh shit" moment, and it continued to escalate from there. Once the movie picked up and shit started getting real, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen and found myself immersed in the film and what would happen next. I think the film does a fair job setting up the story, creating a conflict, and simply escalating it from there to an extreme degree, in which the protagonists have to resolve. 

Had no idea that Dave Franco and Jena Malone were in the movie. A nice surprise, especially because they were both in different roles from what I know them for and what I believe they are typically cast as. Interesting to see the stereotypical frat boy from the movies "Neighbors" and "Nerve" married to Johanna Mason from the Hunger Games. Quite a shock, but in a good way, I believe they both killed their roles. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. I'm unsure whether or not I would watch again, I don't think I missed much. It was definitely worth seeing, however, and I don't regret it. I think it's an interesting film depicting a lesbian relationship, familial ties, frustrating situations, heartbreak, addiction, etc. Lots to unpack, but it kept my interest and I loved the artistic shots. Highly recommend to see.