Here is the film by which the bad buzz hit the Brussels Fantastic Film Festival 2024, a clash of two irreconcilable cultures that evening: that, schoolboy (and not always in the best taste, let’s admit it), of the core audience of the ci-devant Bifff, and that of a priori target audience for this lesbian noir film.
With the benefit of hindsight, let us note two things. First of all, this Rose Glass film (Saint Maud) deserves better than a free-for-all. Then, not perceiving the underlying (black) humor and the dimension of outlet testifies to a rabid perception of cinema. Which in no way justifies opprobrium.
love bleeds, SO. We could have replaced the first term with Sex, because Rose Glass directly assumes the lesbian relationship at the heart of the story. It’s fair game after decades of heteronormative thrillers, imbued with male gaze…
Settling scores
The relationship is formed here between Lou (Kristen Stewart, who cheerfully continues her deconstruction) and Jackie (Katy M. O’Brian, familiar with franchise-style series Mandalorian). The first is out of family ban, certainly not because of her sexual identity (but we won’t say more). She’s champing at the bit running a bodybuilding gym to stay close to her sister Beth, who lives under the influence of the violent and fickle JJ (Dave Franco, mullet and mustaches so eighties).
After a romp in a parking lot, JJ gives Jackie a job in Lou’s father’s (Ed Harris, as a terrifying scarecrow) shooting club. Jackie, who knows nothing of these family ties, succumbs to Lou, who is more in line with her inclinations while training for a bodybuilding championship. Tensions within the Lou family will upset the budding romance and turn into a settling of scores.
Female perspective on the female body
Take the Coens of Blood Simpleadd to it a literal dose (to the point of dreaminess) ofempowerment feminine (hello, Miss Hulk?), sprinkle some Cronenberg with A History of Violence (with Ed Harris as a hyphen). And serve bleeding, with a touch of dark humor to make the pill go down.
The action takes place in 1989. It is the end of the decade of carnographyaccording to a neologism coined by critic David Morell, in reference to the testosterone-oozing films of Schwarzy and Stallone. Love Lies Bleeding revisits these excesses with a feminine gaze focused on Jackie’s body, accompanied by work on expressionist sound.
Rose Glass embraces the aforementioned legacy while mocking its excesses – and the fake sentimentality of Hollywood musclemen of yesteryear. What places Love Lies Bleeding well above inappropriate debates even if, as we will have understood, this is undoubtedly not a film for everyone.
Love Lies Bleeding Dark movie From and written by Rose Glass With Kristen Stewart, Katy M. O’Brian, Ed Harris, Dave Franco,… 1h44
