Kristen Stewart takes a beating from love in this exceptional film
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At one point in “Love Lies Bleeding”, which here is subtitled “Love Bleeds”, bodybuilder Jackie calls home, where she apparently left on less than friendly terms.
Her younger brother answers and, in a mixture of tears and fury, she blurts out one sentence: “Never fall in love.”
In this world designed by director Rose Glass, love is an instrument of damnation, of conflict, a force dedicated to destroying anyone in its path.
Still, it is an intense and irresistible feeling, which once triggered becomes the gravitational center around which the most unlikely figures surrender without restraint.
It is like this, violent and inevitable, that love sews the life of Jackie (Katy O’Brian) with the irascible Lou (Kristen Stewart).
Responsible for a gym in one of those cities lost in the forgotten corners of the United States, Lou brings with him considerable emotional baggage.
The young woman shares dangerous secrets with her father (Ed Harris) and bears the burden of defending her sister (Jena Malone) from her abusive husband (Dave Franco).
The arrival of Jackie, a nomad on his way to a bodybuilding competition in Las Vegas, is the fuel that feeds the fire.
They are two people swallowed into the abyss by the weight of their own sins.
Even so, a vibrant and defiant feeling explodes between them, which can both free them from a crooked life and accelerate their encounter with a tragic destiny.
In her second film, after her surprising debut with “Saint Maud”, Rose defines her style and displays firmness in using a familiar structure to explore the human condition.
Despite potentially conflicting elements, the film does not dwell on the murder plot(s), much less the family chaos.
