Starring Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brien, Ed Harris, Anna Baryshnikov

Written by Rose Glass and Weronika Tofilska

Directed by Rose Glass

A24, in cinemas now

When gym manager Lou falls for a bodybuilder on her way to compete in Las Vegas, it proves to be a catalyst that forces Lou to confront the demons of her past, not to mention a few waiting in her future.

On its UK release between lockdowns in 2020, director Rose Glass’s debut feature, Saint Maud, had genre fans buzzing. There was a new (British) director in town exploring the no-man’s land between reality and the fantastical distortions of the troubled mind.

I say ‘no-man’s land’ advisedly. Both films are fearless eviscerations of feminine identity, but in Love Lies Bleeding the psychological eviscerometer is dialed up to eleven. From the trailers, you might reasonably be expecting a tight 100 minutes of hard-boiled lesbian noir. Kristen Stewart as Lou, wasting away on reception of a seedy gym in a two-bit town somewhere in New Mexico, doesn’t disappoint as a restless, frustrated soul waiting for someone to kick her proverbial arse into gear. That someone is Jackie (Katy O’Brien), who, when jacked-up on steroids, has, let’s say, anger management problems. There are sapphic infused shades of smalltown Jim Thompson in their dynamic, as Lou has to decide whether to jump ship or get on board with her new lover, no matter how bloodily violent things become.

Throw into the mix Ed Harris as Lou’s estranged father, plus a scene-stealing turn from Anna Baryshnikov as Daisy, Lou’s socially awkward drug-addled admirer (using her smiley meth teeth to queasy effect), and Love Lies Bleeding could happily play out as a straight forward (if occasionally gory) romantic thriller. But Glass finds another gear, where the verbally inexpressible is turned into a fantastical, magical new reality.

Whether the gear change is entirely successful, or too much of a wince-inducing crunch not to be distracting, is kind of academic. That’s where the movie is taking us, like it or not, and it’s a great ride. I sense that Rose Glass doesn’t really care what we think – doubt is for sissies, and this movie is a sissy-free zone.

Verdict: Love Lies Bleeding may feel, at times, like it’s pulling in different directions, but it’s an arresting hour-and-forty in the cinema, and I sense it is heading for cult status. 7/10

Martin Jameson

www.ninjamarmoset.com