Kristen Stewart realistically could have decided to retire after The Twilight Saga. Those movies pretty much set her up for a (reasonably priced) life(style), but she has moved onto greater challenges such as Oscar fare with Spencer and gotten freaky with David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future, but those are only a few of her most recent swings. She also produced a “super gay ghost-hunting adventure” series, and next up?
Stewart will romance a bodybuilder in A24’s Love Lies Bleeding. That’s not the entirety of what this film is about, of course. Let’s get into it now.
Plot
Trailer for Rose Glass’s LOVE LIES BLEEDING tomorrow pic.twitter.com/GcbpYWf6b8
— A24 (@A24) December 18, 2023
This “Revenge Gets Ripped” poster already says plenty, but it doesn’t tell us everything, obviously. Yes, that’s an obnoxious way to begin discussing plot, especially since director Rose Glass’ (Saint Maid) presence means that this story is in fine hands.
The film stars a mulleted Kristen Stewart as Lou, the daughter of an FBI-hunted criminal, portrayed by Ed Harris looking like Richard O’Brien’s Riff Raff. Lou ends up becoming enamored with Katy O’Brian’s Jackie, a ripped bodybuilder from Oklahoma who gets pulled into the town’s criminal underworld, and that leads to trouble, but don’t worry: Jackie can kick ass, and Lou can be in the driver’s seat.
The two become entwined in a steamy romance, but also, expect murder and mayhem. Stewart seemed pumped (pun fully intended) for this movie’s debut as she described the central pairing. “They are both so bizarre, but so different, and I think the line through them is desire,” the Clouds of Sils Maria actress explained. “I think there is a visceral kind of raging desire that comes out in both of them, but in a very different way.”
From the synopsis:
From Director Rose Glass comes an electric new love story; reclusive gym manager Lou falls hard for Jackie, an ambitious bodybuilder headed through town to Vegas in pursuit of her dream. But their love ignites violence, pulling them deep into the web of Lou’s criminal family.
Cast
This isn’t simply a Kristen Stewart movie. Katy O’Brian wanted the co-leading role, and she got it. How? She was hanging on Twitter and noticed an aggregated mention of this movie looking for a “female bodybuilder”-type for the gig, and she threw her hat in the ring: “I’m free.”
I’m free
pic.twitter.com/WDEBUSofPT
— Katy O’Brian (@thekatyo) April 13, 2022
The film also stars Harris, Jena Malone, Dave Franco, and Anna Baryshnikov.
Release Date
Love Lies Bleeding will debut at the 2024 incarnation of the Sundance Film Festival before bowing in theaters on March 8, 2024.