 Glad to see that A24 still makes movies that start off kind of like, you know, followable, and then goes right off fucking deep bed. Ooh, that's a hot mug, guys. Hey guys, this is my review for Love Lies Bleeding. This was a film that, initially upon seeing the trailer, I was interested in it. I liked the casting of Kirsten Stewart, and I liked Katie O'Brien. Also following her kind of development for this movie, she got fucking jacked. She went full in. Look at photos of her with the red carpet for, I think it was Season 3 of Mandel 3? Like, she's got the goddamn guns. Give her credit. She did the work to get into shape as her character who is a bodybuilder in this film. Love Lies Bleeding is a film that really fits into that A24 categorization. It is set in kind of the 80s, 90s. It has two characters who have very dark and estranged pasts that are somewhat mitigated for their own passion and love for each other. But because of set passion and love and their own drives, it takes them into areas of violence, pain, and of what the fuck shit. Definitely Katie and Kirsten did good jobs with their roles. The film is a bit messy at first, like it's trying to figure out what it wants to do with the plot. It kind of goes through these weird things with Dave Franco's shitty character, like just a piece of shit character. Ed Harris is an incredibly barbaric haircut. And the relationship that's going on between the two leads is popsily a bit on voyeuristic, but like I said, I was just kind of waiting for when the plot was really going to get the start. And when he did, the film got going. But while the beginning was a bit messy, I will say that the style of this film was nailed immediately. The editing of this movie was also nailed immediately. Rose Glass, the director and writer of this film, got what she was going for. This is her second major film. She did St. Maude, which I have not seen, but the performances in that is what got the lady in it. Her role is glad real. That's a whole different subject aside. We're not going to talk about that. We're going to talk about this movie. And I did start to like it. The middle and kind of towards the end are my favorite parts of this film because the danger and the escalation of the situations that they're in, the very fucking dirty history between Kirsten Stewart and Ed Harris' character, it starts to be revealed more and more. I thought Ed did a great job. I've always liked Ed, but he does a very good job as this malicious piece of shit in this movie. And I liked his involvement and his building into this film more and more as the movie went on. I also like what happens with Katie's character. This indulgence into performance enhancing drug steroids. And it kind of almost gives this monster like mentality to the point where you're kind of curious of what you're seeing is actually happening or if it's more so an overcharacterization, like over dramatization. But then there are bits that happen. You're like, wait, what the fuck is that? But the thing that the film did respectfully for the most part was that it kept it subtle. Yes, it did dip into it like there were certain flashes of extreme WTF, but it kept it in line until the ending, until the last goddamn 10 minutes. I swear, A24 took that note from Ari Aster that, hey, let's make a really good movie or let's make a really fucked up movie. And then the last 10 minutes, let's make it go off the fucking walls. Stupid. And it could be stupid crazy. It could be stupid weird, but it's still kind of stupid. This movie, while maybe not stupid, I see what they were trying to do. There is one moment towards the very, very end of the movie that made everyone's eyebrows go through the fucking roof. It got really fucking weird for a good couple of minutes. However, I still liked how it ended, even if it is a little bit weird. With all the compliments I've said about this movie, it does have a bit of a messy kind of delivery. The beginning of the movie really kind of doesn't know exactly what it wants to be. It's still trying to figure out its meaning, its delivery, its personality. But once it got there, which about a third of the way in, it figured it out and knew what it wanted to do. But then it kind of lost itself towards the ending. And I know there's going to be a bunch of people in the comments. Oh, you're just getting good at it. It's like, no, I got what they were trying to do. I'm just saying it wasn't done well. Ambitious, absolutely. Perhaps maybe too ambitious. There are certain moments in the story where it feels like they were doing these cuts and these transitions because they thought they were really great, but maybe didn't fully realize that the structure is kind of starting to crumble while they're doing so. Overall, I think Love Lies Bleeding is definitely a A24 film. If for those of you who like watching A24 films, you'll enjoy this. This is like old school A24 in terms of its kind of there. A24 has started to really branch out the last little while, so to try and use that generalization is maybe a little bit too narrow-minded. But when they really were starting to get big, those trailers that would give you what you think is happening, but really wouldn't, that's kind of what's happening in this movie. You might go in and absolutely detest it. You might go in and really, really like it. I think it's definitely going to be a movie where people will either really, really like it, don't like it at all, or just kind of be in the middle and think, I mean, I guess. And that's me. That's me. Also, for those who wonder where the title derives from, I actually only noticed this after I had done my review. It actually derives from a plant that's native to South America, I believe, Central and South America. And as the wiki goes, they believe that the Kit Wacha had the power to give strength to people that ate it. This food was not only used for royalty diet, but also for religious rituals. And definitely that plays into this movie. So in the end, I'm going to give Love Lies Bleeding a 3 out of 7. I really like some of the aspects of it. I thought that some of the ideas they did were good. I just don't think it was executed as well as it could have been. And like I said, the ending is just, I know what they were trying to do, but I feel like the movie lost a bit of its credibility for the ending. But that is just me. That was my opinion. I'm very curious to see what you guys have to say about this movie, because I imagine this has a bit of a discourse about it, just because of just what it is, what it did. Either way, they're going to definitely give props to Katie, Kirsten, Ed, Rose for making something pretty cool, if maybe a bit messy. Otherwise though, that's all from me, guys. I hope you enjoyed this review. If you did, leave a like. And if you're interested in more, subscribe. Until then, see you guys next time.