Love Lies Bleeding (2024)

Having made her feature debut with the highly accomplished and confident Saint Maud, Rose Glass put herself firmly on the radar of those who were rightly impressed by that film. It was going to be interesting to see how well she could follow up that film, and hearing about the cast and premise of Love Lies Bleeding just made many of us more intrigued. 

Set in the late 1980s, this is the story of a travelling bodybuilder (Jackie, played by Katy O'Brian) who ends up in a relationship with a gym manager (Lou, played by Kristen Stewart). Jackie is aiming to win a competition in Las Vegas, but things are soon made more complicated by her urge to help protect Lou from people who are hurting people she loves. Lou also has a hard time dealing with her father (Lou Sr., played by Ed Harris), a formidable and dangerous man who sees an opportunity to manipulate the whole situation for his benefit.

There are so many moments in this film that could have been ridiculous. There are also so many moments that could have been presented in a way that everyone would describe as “Coen-esque”. The fact that it avoids both of those labels is a testament to Glass, making every decision throughout to ensure that the script (co-written by herself and Weronika Tofilska) is translated to the screen in a way that aligns with her unique style and vision. Every main strand - drama, romance, crime, a little sprinkling of something else - is given equal time, mixing together in a recipe that would have ended in disaster if just one ingredient was incorrectly measured.

As for the leads, both Stewart and O’Brian are excellent. The former has been delivering one great performance after another throughout the last decade, and those still not aware of that should really start exploring her filmography, while O’Brian is a bit of a revelation in a role that utilises her emotions and physicality to make Jackie an unforgettable main character. Harris is as brilliant as he usually is, and he is used sparingly, but appears often enough to exude an air of menace, Dave Franco and Jena Malone do well in their supporting roles, and Anna Baryshnikov impresses as Daisy, someone who seems quite sweet, but also isn’t averse to a bit of manipulation if it can help her to get what she wants.

Once again delivering an ending that will divide viewers, and once again delivering a movie that is more than JUST that one talking point, Glass is currently two for two. I was hoping this would be good, but I really had no idea how it might all play out. It was brilliant, every aspect (from the production design to Clint Mansell’s score, from the make up to the visual effects, and lighting, editing, etc.) was fashioned to interlock perfectly with everything around it, and I will now just have to wait patiently to see what Glass does next. Whatever it is, I will be doing my best to get to it ASAP.

9/10

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Saint Maud (2019)

Look, ummm, here's the thing. I really liked Saint Maud, let's make that clear. But everyone else LOVED it. I almost loved it, were it not for the fact that it is a film in which you can see the ending pretty much coming from the very first scene. There's nothing really wrong with that, but it does take a little something away from the whole experience.

As a movie, Saint Maud is very good. As a feature debut from writer-director Rose Glass, it is a remarkably accomplished piece of work, one that explores faith, mental health, and also what it takes to be a person who cares for someone who is dying. Glass brings these elements together with no small amount of skill and care, helped by a central performance from Morfydd Clark that will, if there's any justice in the world, raise her profile immensely and see her offered many more roles worthy of her talents (although she already has a decent body of work to her name, just nothing on this level).

Clark is Maud, a young woman who is now tasked with caring for the dying Amanda (Jennifer Ehle). While helping to tend to her body, Maud seriously works on also saving Amanda's soul. She does this by having conversations with her about god, but also by trying to warn away those she sees as being corrupting influences (namely a woman named Carol, played by Lily Frazer). Something has happened in Maud's past though, something that may have shaken her faith in her own abilities to properly care for patients, but it remains to be seen if Maud has learned from that mistake/incident or whether she still has much to learn about dealing with terminal illness.

Dark and grim throughout, perhaps the best thing done here by Glass is making the whole film easier to appreciate and experience, even as you know that it's heading down a tunnel that will just get darker and darker. She does this with the very smallest crumbs of humour, and also by walking that fine line between showing things in an unflinching way and making the whole thing too uncomfortable for people. There's also some fantastic audio work going on, and an interesting and impressive score by Adam Janota Bzowski.

The other big plus is the central relationship between Maud and Amanda, both played to perfection by the leads. Amanda is understandably weary and cynical, but also has moments in which she seems to genuinely respond to the young woman caring for her. Ehle portrays her with aI  mix of exhaustion and sly humour. Maud is a young woman hiding herself in various ways, whether it's using different names, blotting out thoughts with alcohol and/or sex, or her religion, itself perhaps more akin to a fairytale story in which she can make herself the heroine at the heart of it. I really can't accurately describe how good Clark is in the role, it's a star-making turn in a film that may sadly prove too difficult for some to stay with until the very end (not a criticism at all, it's just mature and difficult content that isn't an "easy sell"). What could have easily been a performance made up of twitches and nervous energy is instead sold in a very real way. Maud often knows not to tell other people what she is thinking, although she sometimes can't help herself, and a lot of the film has her trying to restrain herself while exasperated by a world around her that seems impossible to save. Frazer is a good shot of energy in the role of Carol, and Lily Knight plays Joy, a young woman who knew Maud in her past and has one or two conversations with her that helps to clue viewers in to the fact that something has happened in the past that hopefully won't be repeated.

Again, to clarify, I really liked this. You'll be able to read a dozen other reviews from people who absolutely loved it. I just don't think it was perfect, mainly because of the predictability of the material. I do, however, think Glass has delivered one of the best feature debuts in recent history, and I appreciate both that and the fact that she's brought the huge talent of Clark to my attention.

8/10