Surprisingly, one of the best movies to watch after Kristen Stewart's hit romantic thriller Love Lies Bleeding is a 34-year-old romantic crime drama that stars none other than Nicolas Cage. Following her 2019 psychological horror flick, Saint Maud, Love Lies Bleeding is director Rose Glass's sophomore feature, and it goes a long way in cementing the filmmaker's style and vision. Set in 1989, Love Lies Bleeding centers on Stewart's Lou, a reclusive gym manager who comes from a notorious crime family helmed by Lou Sr. (Ed Harris), and bolstered by her brother-in-law J.J. (Dave Franco).
When Jackie (Katy O'Brian), a rising bodybuilder, es through the desert town on the way to a Las Vegas competition, Lou falls hard for the gym's latest client. However, things become complicated when J.J. abuses his wife, Lou's sister Beth (Jena Malone), to the point of hospitalization. Sure enough, Jackie is pulled deeper into Lou's criminal family — and a dark web of violent actions. A hit at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, Love Lies Bleeding is a career-best performance for Stewart. And, thanks to Glass's vision, Stewart's romantic crime thriller is a near-singular film.
Love Lies Bleeding Is A Kristen Stewart Genre Comeback 22 Years In The Making
Directed by Rose Glass (Saint Maud), 2024's Love Lies Bleeding marks a definitive Kristen Stewart genre comeback that's been 22 years in the making.
David Lynch’s Wild At Heart Shares Love Lies Bleeding’s Tone & Genre
In many ways, Love Lies Bleeding is a unique film — a queer romantic crime thriller set against a sweaty, '80s backdrop. However, there's no denying the DNA that Kristen Stewart's latest outing shares with one of David Lynch's best movies — the 1990 romantic crime drama Wild at Heart. Even though it won the prestigious Palme d'Or at Cannes, Wild at Heart was controversial when it was first released. Like other Lynch projects, the film has a chilling darkness to it, though it isn't without some humorous, almost campy moments. It's the same tightrope Love Lies Bleeding walks.
All 10 David Lynch Movies, Ranked By Their Weirdness
While David Lynch has some solid drama movies, he's famous for his weirdest creations, some of them being close to absolute nightmares.
Like the book it adapts, Wild at Heart centers on Sailor Ripley (Nicolas Cage), who the actor described as "a kind of romantic Southern outlaw" (via The New York Times), and Lula Fortune (Laura Dern). After Sailor is released from prison, he and Lula go on the run from Lula's overbearing mother, Marietta Fortune (Diane Ladd, Dern's actual mom), and the hired guns tasked with killing Sailor. Willem Dafoe plays the cruel and creepy Bobby Peru — an outlaw who has shades of Lou Sr. Both crime-induced roadtrip films deftly contrast brutal violence with their main characters' ionate love.
Every Death In Love Lies Bleeding Explained
Love Lies Bleeding takes viewers on a wild journey that sees its protagonists use lethal force to stop anyone from intervening with their new love.
How Wild At Heart & Love Lies Bleeding Both Use Surreal Elements Perfectly
In Love Lies Bleeding, Lou convinces Jackie to take steroids, which leads to the bodybuilder's violent outbursts and surreal dreams. The ending of Love Lies Bleeding takes this surreal quality to the next level in a way that's rather reminiscent of Lynch's works, especially Wild at Heart. While it isn't Lynch's weirdest film, Wild at Heart's ending goes all in on a Wizard of Oz motif. As Glinda the Good Witch, Sheryl Lee (Twin Peaks) tells Sailor, "Don't turn away from love," leading to his ionate reunion with Lula. Even the most brutal acts can't upend the movies' central couples.
Love Lies Bleeding is now playing in theaters; Wild at Heart is unfortunately currently unavailable on streaming, but is available on Blu-Ray from Amazon.
