Vague Visages’ Love Lies Bleeding review contain minor spoilers. Rose Glass’ 2024 movie features Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian and Ed Harris. Check out the VV home page for more film reviews, along with cast/character summaries, streaming guides and complete soundtrack song listings.

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It’s been five years since Rose Glass made audiences squirm with Saint Maud (2019), and while the English filmmaker’s long-awaited return to the screen is in a different vein, the blood pumping thrills of Love Lies Bleeding will still set one’s teeth on edge. The romantic thriller, set in the dusty back roads and cavernous canyons of 80s New Mexico, follows gym manager Lou (Kristen Stewart) and bodybuilder Jackie (Katy M. O’Brian) as their passionate romance is torn apart.

Lou’s work days at a gym are filled with jacked-up men, sweaty equipment and clogged toilets. But it’s a job nonetheless, one the protagonist takes in an attempt to distance herself from her criminal father, Lou Sr. (Ed Harris). Lou’s shifts are monotonous and often gross until a gym member catches her eye. Jackie is a muscle-bound beauty who appears like a mirage in a sea of men, and it’s Lou’s quick infatuation with the woman that takes her off a straight and narrow path.

Love Lies Bleeding Review: Related — Know the Cast & Characters: ‘Lou’

With Love Lies Bleeding’s central relationship, Glass continues her exploration of devotion that began with Saint Maud. Jackie commits to bulking up for a Las Vegas bodybuilding tournament, and Lou devotes herself to her partner’s body. From sincere explorations of pleasure to a gentle correction of Lou’s omelette skills, the pair quickly tumble into bed and a life together.

Love Lies Bleeding Review: Related — Soundtracks of Cinema: ‘Lou’

Stewart’s signature awkwardness makes her a perfect fit for the role of Lou. The character’s bashful reaction to Jackie’s body is one of many beautiful fleeting moments that demonstrate her strong feelings. Stewart’s performance is matched by O’Brian’s quiet strength. The pair come naturally to their respective roles, complementing one another while offering an easy intimacy and fiery chemistry that gives Love Lies Bleeding its roaring heat, with Glass offering a masterful demonstration of sapphic sex scenes as tender as Bound (1996).

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Glass’ sophomore film is comparable to David Cronenberg’s Crash (1996), as she succeeds in going beyond fetishization. Jackie’s extreme physique may be for those with unique taste, but the muscle worship is a chance to reflect on the machismo that Love Lies Bleeding heralds from.

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Love Lies Bleeding’s first act is a sensual seduction intertwined with the gritty realism of gym and desert life. But Lou and Jackie’s honeymoon is short-lived, and the fine line between pleasure and pain quickly becomes apparent when O’Brian’s character meets her partner’s dysfunctional crime family, including JJ (Dave Franco) — the husband of Lou’s sister, Beth (Jena Malone) — whose abusive behavior triggers the pair to react violently. Lou and Jackie fall apart as quickly as they fall in love.

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Love Lies Bleeding’s second act features shocking brutality and a messy cover up, putting Glass’ film on par with great crime thrillers. The director queers a training montage by flicking between passionate lesbian sex, discarded egg yolks and steroid shots. Glass also informs viewers about the characters through aerial shots of wide open roads, a synth-heavy soundtrack and the neon glow that haunts the landscape.

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The final moments of Love lies Bleeding are disappointing, however. And the problem lies with Glass putting her most explosive scene in the middle act. What’s left after the billowing flames is the need for the ending to either ground the audience or have viewers soar beyond the plumes. But in its final confrontation and aftermath, Love Lies Bleeding attempts to do both while stumbling out of the self-induced smoke.

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In the insular coastal town setting of Saint Maud, Glass deftly executed her intentions but stretched over the sprawling desert state. And in Love Lies Bleeding, grand ambitions are lost. So far, Glass has demonstrated that she knows how to build tension, and the pulsating muscular growth of Love Lies Bleeding undoubtedly strengthens the director’s wincing and visceral signature. But the tonal change that pushes the film into an uneven fantasy is far removed from the raw first act. Love Lies Bleeding throws some impressive punches, but not every blow lands.

Billie Walker (@billierwalker) is a culture and lifestyle writer with bylines in Dazed, Them, Little White Lies and many more. Her writing often focuses on her main passion: horror. Billie regularly emerges from her terrifying comfort zone to write book reviews for The Big Issue and personal essays covering mental health and sexuality.

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