Love Lies Bleeding: A Gritty and Visceral Exploration of Obsession and Power

In ‘Love Lies Bleeding,’ which is Rose Glass’s first feature, there are so many distorting factors such as darkness, polish and intensity that one could hardly escape the feelings of discomfort, authority and love as flesh and bone. The action takes place in the late eighties, in a dirty New Mexico town, where Lou (Kristen Stewart), a manager of a gym, meets Jackie (Katy O’Brian) who is a bodybuilder and will do anything to get ahead in the sport. Fiery and aggressive, their love affair develops into something destructive that drains both of them and has no possible rescues.

Right from the beginning, the movie concentrates on the hot, dry, and muggy weather in the abandon town in New Mexico. An audience then comes to learn that Lou is a timid and quite indifferent voiced character; a woman who has been rough handled by civilization in every sense. Until she sees Jackie. Their affair is more like a steroid addicted marriage, a lusty escape and a love affair gone wrong. Filmapool Productions, under the direction of David Earle, has been very innovative in handling the elements of drug abuse with respect to the plot making the audience more eager rather than repulsed by the violence. This proves to be one of the powerful features of the movie.

Lou’s character as brought to life by Kristen Stewart has a remarkable aspect of fragility and bravado. The actress presents a well-balanced type of woman who is trying to choose between love and life. No, it is actually not how Stewart depicts Lou; where the latter is imagined as simply a survivor, in Stewart's rendition, Lou recognizes the insanity that surrounds her but dives in deeper because it is a distraction unlike any that she has ever had. Katy O’Brian is similarly mesmerizing as Jackie – a character both gifted with great strength and yet evading powerful dark undertones of her limitations and the aspects of her personality she wants to overcome.

But the focus on these two women’s relationship is what makes this film different. Their interplay works so well that this sexual tension is beautifully exploited in many scenes in the film. The more Jackie is determined to acquire muscle and pumps steroids in order to do that the more Lou develops an obsession toward Jackie. Their trajectory shifts rather sharply recreating their relationship into one that is psychotic, aggressive and in the end alarming and tragic.

Under Rose Glass’s direction, the film seems to touch upon the boundaries of surrealism, while still maintaining a feeling of rawness. There is a growing gradual build-up of tension, and more so the anticipation of sudden violence which strikes all at once in a well-executed and interesting action packed ending. This is important as it utilizes dramatic elements such as the physical nature of the people and the surrounding places. The changes that Jackie goes through, especially the body-horror aspect, is particularly unsettling engaging the audiences on the film’s theme on the cost of passion, both mental and physical.

A standout element of the film – and this may be a particular one for me – is the violence. It is not senseless, brought in just for visceral impact – it arises organically from the inner struggles of the characters. Whenever Jackie and Lou's coupling cuts deeper, the physicality of the acting grows. Every throat punch, every hollow kick, is a feeling held by the characters just below the surface. The violence is raw and at times liberating, but it is never too much. It pans out the narrative and completes the message of the film – the obsession is dangerous.

In conclusion, “Love Lies Bleeding” is not a movie that you would enjoy in the comfort of your couch. Its on the dark side, has too much obstruction and so its tough watching it at some points, however it is the type of film that you never forget. It examines love and power as concepts, and made it very clear that beauty is not a measure of madness with the character of Glass. It is, rather, a story of love, and the danger of being in love, in the sense that passion can sometimes be what consumes both body and mind.

“Love Lies Bleeding” is as visceral and as intense as it gets and does not fail to deliver. With this one, you can be certain that Rose Glass won’t back down and let her creativity allow people to feel unsettled and explore new horizons. Now this sort of storytelling isn’t something that would sit well with most viewers and there are various reasons to it as well but this one is no doubt a different adventure to explore for its willing participants.