Love Lies Bleeding (2024)

Direction: Rose Glass
Country: USA

Directed by Rose Glass, the director of the critically acclaimed Saint Maude (2019), Love Lies Bleeding is a muscular and psychologically probing feminist thriller with a 1980s look and neo-noir moods inspired by films like The Wrestler (2008), Bound (1996), and Crash (1996). Working from a script she co-wrote with Weronika Tofilska, Glass manages to achieve a fulfilling narrative arc anchored by surprisingly complex performances and a surreal tinge that works both for and against the film.

This is the type of cynical crime entanglement where everyone is implicated in some sort of scheme. It is centered on the ardent lesbian romance between a lonely gym manager, Lou (Kristen Stewart), and a promising bodybuilder, Jackie (Katy O'Brian). Love conquers all, but the atmosphere in town is heavy, potentiated by vindictive characters with destructive emotions and actions that often lead to violence and death. 

The film’s primal instincts are nihilistic and brooding, but it’s not short of ideas. The finely honed script plays like a greasy bucket-load of uninhibited dirtiness through its rougher patches, and I mean that in the nicest possible way. Stewart and O’Brien have a palpable chemistry, while Ed Harris is phenomenal as Lou’s creepy father, an arms dealer with influential connections to the local police.

Glass’ sophomore picture is not as masterfully visceral as Saint Maude, but the rising filmmaker reveals herself as a gifted portrayer of emotional intimacies and wrenching acts of violence.

Saint Maud (2020)

saint-maud-film-2020.png

Direction: Rose Glass
Country: USA

It's a remarkable debut feature for Rose Glass this Saint Maud, a profoundly imaginative and skillfully framed allegory solidly anchored in religious and supernatural themes and bolstered by unblemished performances by Morfydd Clark and Jennifer Ehle. Expect to be dragged into dark and sinister places.

Alone and utterly devout to Roman Catholicism, Maud (Clark) is a hospice young nurse whose new job consists of providing palliative care to a once celebrated dancer/choreographer, Amanda Kohl (Ehle). As she peeks the latter’s erratic behavior, Maud becomes utterly judgmental and controlling, progressively feeding this freaky obsession that she will become the savior of her patient’s soul. However, the relationship between them deteriorates before that happens, and the nurse is fired at a time that we want to know more about her mysterious past. Unemployed and emotionally unstable, she descends into a personal hell of sin, self-penitence and punishment.

Ms. Glass reveals to be a master at her craft, and the tension-rich premise is not wasted for a single minute. During this bizarre journey you’ll find moments of unexpected power that will keep you in a permanent unsettling state.

Saint Maude is a visceral piece of cinema that can be considered too radical by the easily scared, but, on the other hand, brings competence and freshness to the saturated horror genre. It’s an all-front winner that captivates our attention through arresting imagery, psychological distress and demented moods.

4.jpg