Love Lies Bleeding (2024)    A24/Action-Thriller    RT: 104 minutes    Rated R (violence and grisly images, sexual content, nudity, language throughout, drug use)    Director: Rose Glass    Screenplay: Rose Glass and Weronika Tofilska    Music: Clint Mansell    Cinematography: Ben Fordesman    Release date: March 15, 2024 (US)    Cast: Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian, Jena Malone, Anna Baryshnikov, Dave Franco, Ed Harris.

Rating: *** ½

 I think it’s time we finally gave Kristen Stewart the respect she deserves. Here we are 12 years removed from the Twilight movies and I still hear snide comments about her acting ability or lack thereof. Whenever I do, I always ask that person if they’ve seen her in anything besides Twilight. The answer is usually no. I then tell them to check out her work in indie movies like Clouds of Sils Maria, Personal Shopper, Certain Women and Spencer. Any one of those serves as proof positive that Stewart can indeed act. We don’t need to talk about Seberg. That was a fluke on so many levels.

 Stewart’s latest Love Lies Bleeding is another one for the win column. Directed by Rose Glass (Saint Maud), it’s a gritty slice of neo-noir about love, murder and roid rage. Glass lays her scene in fair New Mexico in one of those small, shabby towns in the middle of nowhere circa 1989. One of its residents is Lou (Stewart), a gym manager living a solitary existence in a place where her family is notorious. Her father Lou Sr. (Harris, The Truman Show) is the local Mr. Big. His main venture is smuggling guns into Mexico. Lou’s been estranged from him for quite some time even though he owns the gym where she works. The only person she’s close to is her younger sister Beth (Malone, The Hunger Games movies) who’s married to an abusive jerk named J.J. (Franco, The Disaster Artist) who looks like he could be kin to Joe Dirt with that mullet of his.

 Lou’s life takes a turn for the better and worse when she meets Jackie (O’Brian, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania), a drifter who hitchhikes into town on her way to a bodybuilding competition in Las Vegas. She stops by Lou’s gym to work out and the two ladies hit it off immediately. Generous soul that she is, Lou gives Jackie a place to stay while she’s in town (after a night of hot sex, of course) and a large supply of steroids to which she becomes dangerously addicted.

 ANYWAY, nobody ever said the path to true love was a smooth one. They get into an argument over a piece of information Jackie failed to disclose at the onset of their relationship. Then Lou’s sister ends up in the hospital after being beaten by J.J. This is followed by a horrific (but deserved) act of violence by Jackie. Well, hello Ms. Roid Rage! Instead of panicking, Lou cleans up and helps her new girlfriend cover up the crime by disposing of the body. The problem is that she does it in a way that calls attention to her dad’s illegal dealings. Obviously, Lou Sr. isn’t happy about that. Also, there’s a witness of sorts, a local girl named Daisy (Baryshnikov, Manchester by the Sea), who saw something that could tie the two to the crime. Hey, nobody ever said getting away with murder was easy.

 Love Lies Bleeding isn’t your traditional noir film. It doesn’t lean into the usual tropes like the femme fatale and hard-boiled detective. Glass takes it in unexpected directions. It zigs when you expect it to zag. And just when you think there’s nowhere to go but straight to a predictable conclusion, Glass gets surreal on us. The ending will no doubt leave a few viewers scratching their heads so allow me to offer up this spoiler-free theory. It’s Glass taking us inside the mind of Jackie, now a crazed steroid addict suffering from hallucinations. If you look at it that way, it kind of makes sense. I’ll grant it’s a bit OTT, but does anybody really want a conventional ending in a film that’s anything but?  

 Stewart confidently takes the lead as a young woman who’s clearly used to cleaning up other people’s messes. Note the film’s opening scene showing Lou unclogging a toilet with her bare hands. It’s important because it sets the stage for events to come- i.e. the aforementioned killing and another one later on. One gets the sense this isn’t the first time she’s cleaned up a crime scene or helped cover up a murder. ANYWAY, Stewart perfectly captures her character’s ennui and unhappiness as she sleepwalks through life. That is, until she meets Jackie who drags her right back to familiar territory. In the role, O’Brian is amazing. She imbues her character with equal parts allure and danger. Her volatility as she descends deeper and deeper into the pit of addiction is palpable. Her performance rates a great big “WOW!” Harris is wonderfully seedy as Lou Sr., a dangerous and manipulative individual with a particular disdain for loose ends.

 I love the grimy aesthetic of Love Lies Bleeding. It perfectly augments the dark tone and pulpy storyline. The screenplay by Glass and Weronika Tofilskais intelligent, suspenseful and twisty. It can also be darkly funny at times although not on the level of last month’s criminally overlooked Drive-Away Dolls. I’d put Love Lies Bleeding in a class with Blood Simple and Red Rock West. It’s that great! It’s decidedly not for all tastes, but I personally find that those movies are the ones most worth checking out.