Love Lies Bleeding (2024) Dir: Rose Glass
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There were a fair few new films that I wanted to see at the cinema this year but couldn't, and one of those that I'd place nearer the top of that list was this Rose Glass directed film from A24. It looked exciting, original and progressive. Most of those who saw it before me seemed to enjoy it a lot, which was certainly an encouraging sign.
The auditory experience of this film was, for the most part, phenomenal. I was a big fan of the quirky and groovy soundtrack, particularly in the first half of the film. I also thought that the general sound design was very good, especially during the more trippy scenes in the film.
The cinematography had me a little more conflicted. I think some of it looked really quite excellent - it was interesting, nicely framed and did plenty of the visual storytelling. However, there were some shots, mostly those utilising CGI, that didn't look quite so good. I realise that the budget for the film was not huge, but there was at least a couple of scenes where practical effects would have looked better.
I enjoyed the majority of the film's narrative, but I found myself bemused by what was a bizarre climax. It made me laugh out loud, and not in a good way. It was such an odd way to end the film, and certainly not the most effective. If anything, it distracted from all the great stuff the film had done before that.
Kristen Stewart gave one of her better, and more interesting, performances that I have seen thus far. She showed a fair bit of personality, and she was able to be expressive without overdoing it. I really liked how natural she felt in the role - it was so easy to watch her do her thing.
Katy O'Brian had some absolutely lovely moments in this film. She had some very heartfelt scenes towards the beginning, but she also displayed the more chaotic and vulnerable parts of her character very effectively later on as well. She had one or two off scenes here and there, but the majority of her acting was very strong.
Ed Harris made for a really solid supporting character, who drove plot and character intrigue with his portrayal of a layered antagonist. Supporting performances from Jena Malone, Anna Baryshnikov and Dave Franco were all very much deserving of credit too, particularly Malone - who had some very commendable earlier scenes.
Overall, I thought this was a pretty entertaining crime thriller, which utilised two interesting protagonists well, but perhaps lost itself a little in its own chaos towards the end. There were way more positives than negatives, and I think that those positives will stay with me more than the negatives will in the long-run too.
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