While Stewart may have made a name for herself in a franchise that didn’t exactly reach any cinematic heights since then, she has acted in some amazing films including Personal Shopper and Certain Women while tackling some difficult roles including playing Princess Diana in Spencer.
Now Stewart again tackles a gritty role as she portrays gym owner Lou in Love Lies Bleeding by director Rose Glass (Saint Maud). Actually there is a lot more to Lou than just her occupation because she is also burdened by the fact that she is the daughter of local crime boss Lou Snr (Ed Harris – Apollo 13), whom she believes may even be responsible for the disappearance of her mother.
Then there is also the fact that Lou lives in constant fear that something will happen to her sister Beth (Jena Malone – The Hunger Games), who is married to the vile and violent JJ (Dave Franco – Bad Neighbours), who seems to be a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.
Lou spends most days avoiding her father, looking out for Beth, cleaning up messes at the gym and dodging the flirtatious advances of a local crackhead named Daisy (Anna Baryshnikov – Manchester by the Sea), but suddenly that life is turned upside down with the arrival of Jackie (Katy O’Brian – Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania) in town.
Jackie is different to any other woman that Lou has ever known before. She is a woman that can stand up for herself and match it with the men physically. Then there is also her interesting life – she is currently hitchhiking her way across America to Las Vegas so she can take part in a female bodybuilder’s tournament. And Lou is attracted to her in a way she hasn’t felt about anybody before.
When it comes to grit, Love Lies Bleeding is swimming in it. Rose Glass and cinematographer Ben Fordesman (Out of Darkness) do whatever they can to make this film look and feel dirty and grimy to match the environment that Lou lives in. The result is a film that not only mirrors the uncomfortable situations that the characters find themselves in but also makes the audience feel an uneasy tension throughout the entire film.
Credit must also be paid to Glass and fellow screenwriter, Weronika Tofilska (A Moment of Horror) for a screenplay that has the perfect pace and reveals secrets about the characters only when it needs to. The result is a film that constantly keeps you guessing at what will happen next while having you concerned for every character’s well being.
The only downside to the look and feel of the film is the moment when the film momentarily escapes realism and goes into fantasy. This is something that the studio behind Love Lies Bleeding, A24, seems to like to do regularly with their films. Here, though, it just doesn’t work as it doesn’t match the aesthetics of the rest of the film ‒ and the only thing it achieves is breaking that forbidden rule of taking the audience out of the film and reminding them that they are still sitting in a cinema.
Still, that is a minor gripe when you consider the strengths of this film – another of course being the performances of the stars. Kristen Stewart is brilliant as Lou while Katy O’Brian is almost Christian Bale-like as she morphs into a bodybuilder at the peak of their career. She certainly deserves a lot of credit for the work she put in to prepare for this role.
Then there is the unrecognisable Ed Harris who delivers a menacing performance that Anthony Hopkins would be proud of, while Anna Baryshnikov steals just about every scene that she is in with some truly memorable acting as a character that audiences will either love or hate.
With a feel of a cross between Bound and Hell or High Water, this is a film that is a must see for lovers of gritty crime thrillers. Love Lies Bleeding keeps you guessing throughout while Katy O’Brian and Kristen Stewart deliver performances for the ages.
Love Lies Bleeding opens in Phuket on Mar 21.
4.5/5 Stars
David Griffiths has been working as a film and music reviewer for over 20 years. That time has seen him work in radio, television and in print. He is also an accredited reviewer for Rotten Tomatoes. You can follow him at www.facebook.com/subcultureentertainmentaus