As you may have heard me say since returning from Sundance, this year’s festival was a bit of a downer. Fewer films overall, and definitely fewer movies that we’ll be shouting about during the awards season. But there were still a few highlights and one of the most electrifying films at Park City was Love Lies Bleeding, Rose Glass’ pulpy queer crime-romance starring Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brien.
Love Lies Bleeding is a queer romance set within a small-town crime thriller. Stewart plays Lou, a gym manager (we liken her performance to Mickey Rourke-esque) who enters a steamy relationship with Jackie, a nomadic bodybuilder with a dream of winning a bodybuilding competition in Vegas. The two find themselves swept up in a web of violence, pulling them closer to Lou’s criminal family ties.
I was at the world premiere of Love Lies Bleeding and loved it. Gritty and surreal at the same time, I think it’s the film that takes Glass into the mainstream and makes a star out of O’Brien.
The film also stars Dave Franco, Ed Harris, Jena Malone and Anna Baryshnikov.
Glass made waves with her debut feature, Saint Maud, which earned her a ton of new fans. O’Brien is best known for her roles on The Mandalorian and Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania.
Here’s the synopsis: From Director Rose Glass comes an electric new love story; 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.
A24 will release Love Lies Bleeding in theaters on March 8th.
