Love Lies Bleeding
Love Lies Bleeding
Reclusive gym manager Lou falls hard for Jackie, an ambitious bodybuilder headed through town to Vegas in pursuit of her dream. But their love ignites violence, pulling them deep into the web of Lou's criminal family.
Varun reviewedOctober 19, 2024
Alright I was really digging every single second of this movie except for the last 3 minutes that ruined my mood but we’ll get there. Firstly, the performances from Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian were absolutely magnetic. At first Lou seems like an avoidant introvert, but there’s so many layers underneath that Stewart masterfully and effortlessly peals open for us in each scene. Jackie is this sincere, motivated, uplifting character that provides a sense of fresh air in this stagnant town and she steals every scene in the first 30 minutes. But man when the movie takes a turn, the pacing is riveting and Jackie turns into a ticking time bomb that you cannot stop being anxious about. It reminded me of how Homelander makes me feel in The Boys. Stewart really shines in the second half of the movie. Ed Harris is also so good in this, it’s difficult to play a calm cool character that also comes off as menacing. The soundtrack and song choice was great. The aesthetics were really good. The romantic relationship at the start was depicted fantastically. The tension was handled really well. One scene I thought was a bit of a stretch is when the FBI entered Lou’s home. But the visual gag at the end really disappointed me. I enjoyed the visuals throughout, especially the bodybuilder competition scene, but making her a literal giant was extremely silly. Completely took me out of the film. Like that’s the way you chose to show Jackie defeating the villain, by giving her Ant-man like superpowers? It was cheesy af and it does come out of nowhere because the earlier visuals serve to portray how the drugs are affecting her body and mind and how the effects spill over into real life are totally believable but the ending took it too far. They could’ve come up with a far more interesting takedown with better dialogue. All I could think of during that scene was “What the fuck, now I can’t recommend this movie anymore.” And that’s a sucky thing to experience at the conclusion. But yeah it seems like most people didn’t find it as egregious as I did so I still think this movie is worth checking out especially for the performances and its unique plot. The movie is a solid 9 for the most part but I’m going to have to bump it down to a 7 for the few unrealistic scenes.