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Writer's pictureConnor Lightbody

REVIEW: LOVE LIES BLEEDING, A Molotov Cocktail of Brawn, Lust and Rage

Queer stories aren’t a new concept. If you look at film history, especially before the Hays Code, you’ll see a vast collection that has been influenced by queer filmmakers since the beginning of Hollywood, even if it’s through fashion, set design, etc. Queer love stories have begun to find a wider footing since the turn of the century, their place in Hollywood moving from indie to mainstream with the likes of Love, Simon and Bros, with queer indie Moonlight, an excellent, reserved, and evocative triptych on queer trauma taking home the academy award for Best Picture. 



But they all, bar the odd exception, have something in common: their sexuality is always positioned in the narrative as a causation of trauma. In Rose Glass’s sophomore feature Love Lies Bleeding, a snappy, sultry, venomously exhilarating neo-noir thriller that feels like a breath of fresh air within the queer film space, the queerness of the characters is perfunctory to the plot, existing progressively not as something to comment on but as a facet of the characters’ lives.


Ex-foster child and aspiring bodybuilder Jackie (Katy O’Brian with a career-defining performance) is on her way to Las Vegas for a bodybuilding competition. To earn money for the entry fee, she takes on a job waitressing at the local gun range by sleeping with JJ (Dave Franco), a slimy, mulleted sleazeball whose father-in-law Lou Sr. (an intimidating Ed Harris) runs the range. Continuing her bodybuilding, she begins working out at the gym run by Lou Sr.’s daughter, Lou Jr. (Kristen Stewart), a vest-wearing lesbian whose starving eyes instantly latch on to Jackie and her muscular frame. 


This review was posted on February 17th 2024. Full review linked below.



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