LOVE LIES BLEEDING
Aside from the obvious comparisons—Thelma & Louise, Bound, Wild Things—director and co-screenwriter Rose Glass’s latest genre blast has more in common with the early work of John Dahl (Kill Me Again and Red Rock West) and Of Mice and Men than anything else. She also seems heavily influenced by Nicolas Winding Refn.
On the surface it’s an unabashed love story laced with quick flash lurid sex and ultra-violence. And if one wishes to get academically introspective, it also examines toxic femininity and what happens when women adopt the traits of toxic masculinity in order to navigate the twisted patriarchy of bodybuilding and the late ‘80s underworld of Albuquerque gun running.
Lensed in a neon like dream haze that’s more hallucinatory nightmare gonzoness than anything else, the film is additionally drenched in a sonic maelstrom of electronic oomph! courtesy of Clint (Pop Will Eat Itself) Mansell, not to mention mind-numbingly intense sound design.
As for the Steinbeckian connection? Read into it as you will, but I found the lead characters of Lou (fantastically portrayed by Kristen Stewart) to be akin to George with Jackie (played by an uber ripped Katy O’Brian) taking on the role of Lennie. Feel free to draw your own conclusions, but this story follows many of the same themes as the 1937 novel.
Honestly though, when stripped to its core, this is a wickedly paced, slick, and frenetic ode to steamy 1980’s noir influenced B-movies. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
RIYL
Good Time; Vengeance; Rumble Fish; Wild At Heart
https://youtu.be/BF_J3-DmiS0?si=wwsdzRvdWL4mvuY6
Bookmarks