Love Lies Bleeding Review

I'm so excited that I knew nothing about this movie going in. I saw the trailer once. It was before Drive Away Dolls, which seemed to be a movie with very similar premise but the exact opposite tone. (I actually wrote in my notes for that movie to keep an eye out for this one.) I only saw a bit of the opening scene working theaters for Love Lies Bleeding as well, how lucky is that. I realize halfway through typing the last sentence this is once cadence shift away from complaining about spoilers, and I really don't care about stuff like that, but it's pretty rare that I can go into a movie 100% blind these days. At least, not one where I stayed up until midnight to watch it. I'm just being appreciative is all.

What's The Movie About?

Jackie is a bodybuilder hitchhiking to a competition when she makes a stop in a small New Mexico town. There she meets Lou, the daughter of a local crime boss and they fall in love. What follows is a tale of revenge, steroid abuse, frame-ups, and murder.

What I Like.

The atmosphere of this movie is incredible. The music, camera work, and lighting all combine to create an almost ethereal glow that surrounds the sleaze and crime that fills this movie. The magical realism in the movie perfectly encapsulates the characters' emotions and thoughts. The biggest strength is the showing-not-telling that the story is mostly comprised of. This was one of those movies where I'd just be staring at the screen, spellbound before remembering I was supposed to be taking notes and trying to catch up. The acting is also pretty damn good. I'm glad that both Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson both decided to do whatever crazy shit they wanted after Twilight, the Radcliffe career trajectory for actors is always interesting to watch.

What I Didn't Like.

There was a bit of the ending where I feel the magical realism was stretched a bit too far, but I honestly only bring it up because I think saying it will annoy the person I went to see the movie with. My more substantial problem is how uncomfortable the movie made me feel. And I can't really understand why. Obviously there are moments where the atmosphere was supposed to be strange and awkward, but I feel like it extended to the entirety of the movie. And I don't even it had to do with the content of the movie itself. Sure, there's gross and reprehensible stuff, but I've seen plenty of movies where they glorify violence, or where the characters do drugs and have explicit sex, or that are about incredibly awkward topics like spousal abuse or the repercussions of murder. Maybe it's the combination of all those things with the realistic camera work that just overwhelmed me.

Final Summation.

Honestly, I'm a tad disappointed as a whole. Love Lies Bleeding isn't a bad movie in any regard. In fact, by almost any metric, it's a great film. But I feel like it fell short from what I was expecting. I think I just built it up in my head to be something that it just was never gonna be. There were also some parts where the rest of the audience was laughing, but I wasn't, or I was the only one in the theater laughing. I don't think I got Love Lies Bleeding. And unlike something like Lisa Frankenstein, I don't know if I can understand it. (I gUeSs I'm JuSt ToO lItErAl.) Don't get it twisted, the movie is pretty good and if you are interested you should go see it. But I think all the uncomfortable atmosphere is just too much for me.

What a bass-ackwards day. The movie I liked the least was the one I was looking the most forward to, and the best movie was starring Sidney Sweeney.