The official description for Rose Glass's Love Lies Bleeding on the Sundance Film Festival website calls the A24 pic “an off-the-wall, rambunctious lesbian love story” that “crashes into a family drama of the darkest ilk in this muscular thriller.” It's also cited for "violence, graphic sexual content and other mature content."
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It's a pretty spot-on description — plus some surprise scenes best saved for the film's March 8 release — and the capacity crowd seated inside Park City's Eccles Theater on Saturday night greeted the world premiere with an enthusiastic response and partial standing ovation. A man seated next to The Hollywood Reporter relayed a single adjective to a friend after the credits rolled: “Crazy.” Other times as the action unfolded, there were cheers, wows, fidgeting as one character's face is destroyed in an act of violence, and maybe a few laughs at unintended moments.
Written by Glass with Weronika Tofilska, the film follows a reclusive gym manager Lou, played by Kristen Stewart, who falls hard for Jackie, an ambitious bodybuilder, played by Katy O'Brian, who has hopes of making it to Las Vegas for a competition. . After a domestic violence situation arises between Lou's sister, played by Jena Malone, and her husband, a villainous Dave Franco, the plot hits overdrive as Jackie's violent tendencies bring out the worst in her.
The cast also includes Ed Harris as Lou's father and Anna Baryshnikov as a local woman obsessed with Lou. The A24 and Film 4 pic was produced by Andrea Cornwell and Oliver Kassman. Glass previously directed Saint Maud, which premiered in the Midnight Madness section at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The world premiere Sundance showing also marked the first viewing for the actors, and festival veteran Malone took a moment to offer her reaction during the Q&A. "I'm having a hard time just acting normal. I'm just still so incredibly moved by the film,” said the actress. “I think it blew [me] away. It's so beautiful and powerful. It was the best script I ever read — it really was. I mean, hands down. I know that things transform, but it's such a beautiful film. It's really going to just sink in, and it's going to take a little bit [because] I'm overwhelmed. I'm in awe.”