Sophomore sapphic nightmare

Set against the backdrop of an isolated New Mexico desert town in the ‘80s, Love Lies Bleeding follows the intertwining lives of gym manager Lou (Kristen Stewart) and aspiring bodybuilding champion Jackie (Katy O’Brian), as they spiral down a bloodsoaked path of sex, sinews and salvation.

Directed by Rose Glass, Love Lies Bleeding is a raunchy, unapologetic exploration of the queer experience. While paying homage to noir classics, the narrative defies easy categorisation, deliriously jumping from genre to genre. From the opening scenes, Glass devilishly plunges us into another one of her small town microcosms brimming with an unseen violence and licking its lips in anticipation.

At the heart of the film is Stewart’s mesmerising performance as Lou, the local lesbian gym manager with a few demons in the closet. Stewart effortlessly captures the character’s internal conflict, with her staggered delivery and brooding presence.

Starring across Stewart, O’Brian shines as Jackie, matching that riveting intensity as an ambitious bodybuilder whose quest for perfection leads her down a treacherous path of selfdestruction. As Jackie’s relationship with Lou intensifies,

O’Brian navigates the complexities of their infatuation while pushing her physicality to alarming levels.

Cinematographer Ben Fordesman strikes a visual balance with sweatdripped closeups of throbbing muscles.

This unsettling imagery is complemented by editor Mark Towns’ visceral urgency that enhances the gorefest to new heights.

Glass weaponises pain and pleasure as two sides of the same coin, blurring the lines between the two to disconcerting levels of satisfaction. While the eponymous Maud from Glass’s previous tryst with mutilation is entirely convinced that selfharm is the ultimate form of penance as she reaffirms, “Never waste your pain,” O’Brian’s Jackie taps into the alltoofamiliar gymrat rhetoric that extolls the virtues of “no pain, no gain” until it chews her up and spits her out.

Glass mines the queer cultural archives, weaving in references and themes that are unfiltered and provocative. From Stewart’s lingering gaze to steamy sex montages set to ‘80s queer icons, the film is a wild, uncut love letter to queer rebellion.

The film draws to a satisfying climax — with the two sapphic monsters Thelma & Louising off into the sunset. While deceptively dubbed a romancethriller, Love Lies

Bleeding rings sonorous with the British filmmaker’s distinct bodyhorror sensibilities that explicates her status as one of the most original horror icons in contemporary cinema today.

Love Lies Bleeding is currently running in theatres