A24’s surreal crime thriller Love Lies Bleeding employs a great deal of symbolism and blurs the line between delusion and reality, rendering its ambiguous conclusion challenging to decipher. Kristen Stewart’s foray back into the thriller genre skillfully interweaves a complex tapestry of obsession, violence, and familial turmoil by employing a blend of gritty realism and the ethereal neon radiance of the 1980s Southwestern United States.
Jackie (Katy O’Brian) and Lou (Stewart) become romantically entangled. However, their bond is further complicated when a sequence of violent occurrences escalates uncontrollably, with Lou’s evil gun-running father (Ed Harris) providing assistance.
At the core of Love Lies Bleeding appears to be a relatively innocent romance, but as the bodies begin to pile up and Jackie and Lou’s relationship deteriorates, it becomes increasingly questionable whether any of the characters involved possess anything pure or good. Throughout the film, director Rose Glass (Saint Maud) employs a profusion of metaphors and does not hesitate to apply a distorted and dark filter to reality in order to do so. The film’s conclusion further blurs the distinction between illusion and reality, leaving considerable latitude for interpretation.
What Happens In Love Lies Bleeding’s Ending
Lou storms into her father’s estate to confront him and liberate Jackie, who is being held captive by him after almost escaping the police officer her father sent to assassinate her. Lou and Jackie immediately make up before splitting up to allow Jackie to flee the pursuing FBI investigators while Lou looks for her father.
However, before Jackie can exact any kind of retribution, Lou Sr. shoots her in the leg. After torturing her by prodding the bullet hole, he says that her mother fled because of what the two of them did, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt Lou’s accusations that he killed her mother.
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Jackie’s muscles begin to expand as he is about to kill Lou, just like they did at other points during the preceding weeks. But this time, she doesn’t stop growing until she reaches a height of 50 feet, at which point she effortlessly removes Lou Sr. from Lou and pins him to the ground.
Lou considers killing her father for a short while before deciding to leave him in the care of the FBI investigators. The two giant-sized women flee across the skies, dressed in glittering clothes.
The two spend the night in Lou’s truck, only coming to a halt when Lou notices Daisy, who she had thought was dead, is struggling in the truck bed. Lou kills Daisy by strangulation and lets her body be carried out into the desert by herself while Jackie is asleep. Lou’s relative weakness is played against her struggle to do so for one last dark laugh.
What Is ‘Love Lies Bleeding’ About?
The summer of 1989 serves as the setting for Love Lies Bleeding, which focuses on Lou (Kristen Stewart), a solitary gym manager whose family has long neglected her. Beth, portrayed by Jena Malone, is the sibling engaged in an abusive partnership with J.J., portrayed by Dave Franco). Lou Sr. (Ed Harris), the proprietor of a nearby firearms range, maintains dubious associations with corrupt law enforcement officials in the area.
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Despite experiencing a sense of hopelessness and the perception that the odds are piled against her, Lou finds solace in the fact that bodybuilder Jackie (Katy O’Brian) is exercising at her gym. In Love Lies Bleeding, the connection between Jackie and Lou becomes the focal point of a warped romance. Although both characters are confronted with personal difficulties, they ultimately experience a sense of being “seen” when they interact.
As their relationship develops further, Lou learns that Jackie is making arrangements to travel to Las Vegas in order to participate in a bodybuilding competition. Lou succeeds in persuading Jackie to use steroid medication in order to ensure her triumph; however, the two become embroiled in a dispute when Jackie discloses engaging in sexual relations with J.J.
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Lou is under intense pressure to maintain her anonymity, as FBI agents are surveilling the pair in an attempt to locate her mother, who vanished under enigmatic circumstances years ago. Jackie’s temper is regrettably affected by the steroids, causing her to erupt in a fit of fury at J.J. for abusing Beth.
Lou is compelled to assist Jackie in concealing the body of J.J., whom she unintentionally murders, in a ravine already cluttered with other corpses. Although it is gratifying to witness the demise of Franco’s malevolent persona in such a ruthless manner, his passing poses an imminent threat to the young lovers.
Despite Lou’s objections, Jackie decides to proceed with her journey to Las Vegas. She continues to use steroids, but a vivid hallucination in which she is held responsible for J.J.’s murder causes her to vomit on stage, and she is subsequently incarcerated for inciting a fight. Lou is reunited with her ex-lover Daisy (Anna Baryshnikov), who discovers her involvement in J.J.’s disappearance, following the departure of her companion.
Lou begins to fear what actions her father will take as Daisy coerces her into a relationship; Lou Sr. previously utilized the ravine to dispose of the remains of business rivals he had murdered. Although Jackie is ultimately released from prison by Lou Sr., he remains determined to attribute all of the homicides he has perpetrated to her.
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