Love Lies Bleeding (2024)

Watched 3/14/24 (theater)

A lot of thoughts ran through my head during this mercifully brisk ‘80s throwback crime programmer, chief among them anxious ones. “What’s gonna happen next?” “How are they gonna get out of this?” “Oh, shit!” I must have thought “oh, shit” about 100 times. The problem was—sometimes it was a surprised “oh, shit!” and then it turned into a let-down “OH…. shit.” As in “oh shit I wish they had done something else here.”

That’s not to say this is a bad movie. In fact, I think this is a pretty mixed bag ranging from great to super annoying, and I find myself, as expected, somewhere in the middle. It reminded me a lot of Uncut Gems in its A24-ness. It has the synth sounds, the retro aesthetic, the slow-but-sure downward trajectory toward an impending doom. The A24 “freakout” as I have heard it referred to. And that’s a formula that has sometimes really worked for me in the studio’s other movies. Unfortunately that formula comes with a few notes in this one.

The tension and anxiety that these films strive for was perfected in Uncut Gems—at least in my opinion, but that’s because it was balanced out so well by Sandler’s charisma. He is having the time of his life all the way till the characters death. You don’t know whether to scream or laugh with him. You always have something to glob onto whether you’re into the directions the movie goes or just stressed. In this one, everyone’s as stressed as you are and it makes for a pretty dour, joyless watch. When they make their stupid decisions, it’s more frustrating because they’re so serious about it all. With Sandler in Gems it was clear from the beginning the guy’s a nut and you’re there to see how far he goes. This one just developed in ways that ranged from frustrating to odd to stupid. Without spoiling anything, there’s a touch or two of what I believe is referred to as Magical Realism thrown into the back half of this that really, really took me out of it.

But hey there’s some great genre moments, some excellent tension, some awesome shots/ and lighting, as well as some really swell performances (I still remain a bit unconvinced on O’Brien, but she wasn’t the saboteur here that she was to Mandalorian—and some of the dialogue she has had to say in both projects hasn’t helped). I just wish it hadn’t taken so many dimwitted turns and wish that the characters had been a bit more likable. Maybe if there was a better final confrontation I would have given this the three-star? Maybe? Regardless, it was hard for me to root for or laugh with anyone in this and when you’re not on the characters’ side, you notice the nitpicks more than you would otherwise.

What kind of movie would I like to see Rose Glass do next? How about a comedy? There are some strangely, subtly funny bits in this that show a pretty acute attention to detail—I wonder what she could do with a co-writer who has a bit more experience writing with humor in mind… Maybe they could bounce strengths off of each other to come up with something cool. I’m thinking another No Hard Feelings-esque comedy. We need more of those.

5.25/10