It was day three of the Sundance Film Festival, and I was sitting with roughly a thousand other festival goers for the midnight premiere of “Love Lies Bleeding.” In the brief and insular world of film festivals, certain movies make more noise than others. At Sundance, the noise surrounding “Love Lies Bleeding” eclipsed pretty much everything else. From coffee shop baristas to film producers in VIP lounges, everyone was talking about the film. We hyped up the excellent trailer, discussed Kristen Stewart’s (“Twilight”) role as the film’s lead and speculated about what exactly a 1980s lesbian crime thriller would entail. While the hype seemed deafening, the film’s reputation was still fragile — no one had seen it yet. Once it hit screens at Sundance, industry professionals, film critics and movie lovers would all start pouring out opinions. That reception would then determine the movie’s future relevancy and popular reception. When I finally squeezed into my seat at the premiere, I felt pretty lucky. I wasn’t just watching a movie — I was potentially witnessing the birth of a cultural phenomenon. As the film started, you could hear a pin drop. Every seat was filled, and every single person’s attention was singularly on the movie. As the roaring opening sequence played out, we held our breath — a breath that we didn’t let out until the credits rolled.
“Love Lies Bleeding” absolutely lives up to its initial Sundance hype. It delivers on its premise and pulls very few punches. The film focuses on Lou, played by Stewart, a lonely young woman who spends most of her time managing a rundown gym in the rural American Southwest. Her quiet, isolated life derails when a brash young woman shows up at the gym, picking fights and pumping just as much iron as the guys. This is Jackie (Katy O’Brian, “The Mandalorian”) — a passionate, bright-eyed bodybuilder with big dreams and an even bigger heart. She charms Lou and quickly inserts herself into Lou’s turbulent life.
Their tumble into love is both passionate and heartbreakingly intimate. They cook each other breakfast in the mornings and share dreams late at night. But their honeymoon phase doesn’t last. Lou’s family is very volatile — her sister’s abusive husband is becoming more aggressive, and her father’s connections in organized crime are beginning to catch up to him. As she and Jackie are dragged backward into Lou’s disastrous family, their love becomes caught up in the surrounding violence. The result is a razor-sharp, tense examination of how love, family and trauma intersect. Both Lou and Jackie make enormous mistakes and have other priorities. Still, they keep coming back to each other. It doesn’t always seem like the right decision. By the end of the film, both of them are mentally and physically destroyed. They’re left looking at each other, forced to confront the pain that they’ve caused and the vicious love that they still feel.
The film is a sad, explosive story. “Love Lies Bleeding” forces you to confront your own destructive power — how fighting hard for the things you love can tear those same things from you. It also reminds you that even at your absolute worst, you can still give and receive love. As the credits finally rolled, I could almost feel the audience piecing themselves back together around me. We were all devastated and thrilled and entirely in love with what we’d just seen. The entire theater was humming with the sort of energy only an excellent movie can produce. After the lights came on, director Rose Glass (“Saint Maude”), Stewart and the entire cast of the film came up on stage. They seemed dazed too, fighting to articulate their emotions after seeing their work play out so viscerally on the big screen.
The entire night was dazzling, intense and magical. “Love Lies Bleeding” was exactly what a film festival movie should be — unique, excellent and wholly engaging. That night was by far the highest point of energy in my entire Sundance weekend. It’s a film everyone should see, especially with a live audience. “Love Lies Bleeding” tore Sundance up. I hope it goes on to wreck many more audiences in the same way. Let yourself get caught up in the “Love Lies Bleeding” storm — it will break your heart and light up your night all at the same time.
Daily Arts Writer Lola D’Onofrio can be reached at lolad@umich.edu.