1 of 6 | Katy O’Brien (L) and Kristen Stewart star in “Love Lies Bleeding.” Photo courtesy of Sundance Institute
PARK CITY, Utah, Jan. 21 (UPI) — In movies, as in life, love often makes people make poor decisions, even kill. Love Lies Bleeding, which screened Sunday at the Sundance Film Festival, is a violent crime saga with several unique twists on the genre.
Lou (Kristen Stewart) works at a Louisville, Ky. gym in 1989. Bodybuilder Jackie (Katy O’Brien) and sleeps with JJ (Dave Franco) to get a job at Lou Sr.’s (Ed Harris) gun range.
JJ is also the abusive husband of Lou’s sister, Beth (Jena Malone), and they are both Lou Sr.’s duaghters. When Lou and Jackie are alone together in the gym, they begin a romance, and share steroids together.
Neither Jackie nor Lou are the femme fatale per se, although Jackie is the drifter rolling into town. Jackie even invites Lou to come to watch her compete in a Las Vegas bodybuilding competition.
Director Rose Glass, who co-wrote the script with Weronika Tofilska, presents Lou and Jackie in a frank, loving relationship. Jackie is bisexual, though did not sleep with JJ for pleasure, but together, neither Lou nor Jackie need anyone else.
O’Brien is a powerful screen presence. Just watching her lift weights, or do pushups and sit-ups on the street, is captivating.
Glass emphasizes the sound of Jackie stretching and flexing her muscles. Her veins bulge when making love with Lou, but Jackie is volatile, perhaps naturally and certainly with the amplification of steroids.
The crime in which Jackie and Lou are involved is graphically violent and shows the gory aftermath more times than expected. Covering it up leads to more questions that spiral, and threaten to tear Lou and Jackie apart.
Lou Sr. gets involved to look after his daughters, but that only exacerbates the fraught relationship he has with Lou Jr. One of Lou Jr.’s sometimes booty calls, Daisy (Anna Baryshnikov) also gets involved complicating both the crime and Lou’s new love with Jackie.
Jackie spirals into some surreal visions. When those visions use digital effects, it’s far less impressive than the killings that look practical, although those too could also be really good CGI at this point.
But, the surreal visions are meant to look unnatural and disturbing. Lou Sr.’s exotic bug collection pays off in an unexpected way, though one with a cinematic legacy.
Throughout the extremes of the plot, Love Lies Bleeding maintains a macabre sense of humor. Mostly, Lou’s reactions to extreme crimes are disproportionately rational and casual.
Love Lies Bleeding is not the best lesbian crime thriller ever. That is still Bound, but there’s room for more and Love Lies Bleeding certainly goes to unusual places that should not be spoiled.
Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.
U.S. Premiere Report:
#MSG Review: Free Flowing Chiru Fun
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It’s an easy, fun festive watch with a better first half that presents Chiru in a free-flowing, at-ease with subtle humor. On the flip side, much-anticipated Chiru-Venky track is okay, which could have elevated the second half.
#AnilRavipudi gets the credit for presenting Chiru in his best, most likable form, something that was missing from his comeback.
With a simple story, fun moments and songs, this has enough to become a commercial success this #Sankranthi
Rating: 2.5/5
First Half Report:
#MSG Decent Fun 1st Half!
Chiru’s restrained body language and acting working well, paired with consistent subtle humor along with the songs and the father’s emotion which works to an extent, though the kids’ track feels a bit melodramatic – all come together to make the first half a decent fun, easy watch.
– Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu show starts with Anil Ravipudi-style comedy, with his signature backdrop, a gang, and silly gags, followed by a Megastar fight and a song. Stay tuned for the report.
U.S. Premiere begins at 10.30 AM EST (9 PM IST). Stay tuned Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu review, report.
Cast: Megastar Chiranjeevi, Venkatesh Daggubati, Nayanthara, Catherine Tresa
Writer & Director – Anil Ravipudi
Producers – Sahu Garapati and Sushmita Konidela
Presents – Smt.Archana
Banners – Shine Screens and Gold Box Entertainments
Music Director – Bheems Ceciroleo
Cinematographer – Sameer Reddy
Production Designer – A S Prakash
Editor – Tammiraju
Co-Writers – S Krishna, G AdiNarayana
Line Producer – Naveen Garapati
U.S. Distributor: Sarigama Cinemas
Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu Movie Review by M9
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Welcome to an exciting year-long project here at The Nerdy. 1986 was an exciting year for films giving us a lot of films that would go on to be beloved favorites and cult classics. It was also the start to a major shift in cultural and societal norms, and some of those still reverberate to this day.
We’re going to pick and choose which movies we hit, but right now the list stands at nearly four dozen.
Yes, we’re insane, but 1986 was that great of a year for film.
The articles will come out – in most cases – on the same day the films hit theaters in 1986 so that it is their true 40th anniversary. All films are also watched again for the purposes of these reviews and are not being done from memory. In some cases, it truly will be the first time we’ve seen them.
This time around, it’s Jan. 10, 1986, and we’re off to see Black Moon Rising.
Black Moon Rising
What was the obsession in the 1980s with super vehicles?
Sam Quint (Tommy Lee Jones) is hired to steal a computer tape with evidence against a company on it. While being pursued, he tucks it in the parachute of a prototype vehicle called the Black Moon. While trying to retrieve it, the car is stolen by Nina (Linda Hamilton), a car thief working for a car theft ring. Both of them want out of their lives, and it looks like the Black Moon could be their ticket out.
Blue Thunder in the movies, Airwolf and Knight Rider on TV, the 1980s loved an impractical ‘super’ vehicle. In this case, the car plays a very minor role up until the final action set piece, and the story is far more about the characters and their motivations.
The movie is silly as you would expect it to be, but it is never a bad watch. It’s just not anything particularly memorable.
1986 Movie Reviews will continue on Jan. 17, 2026, with The Adventures of the American Rabbit, The Adventures of Mark Twain, The Clan of the Cave Bear, Iron Eagle, The Longshot, and Troll.
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