Love Lies Bleeding Star and Director Talk Ambitious New Film

Filmmaker Rose Glass made her feature-film debut with Saint Maud, an impressive exploration of delusion and the dangers of misguided devotion to faith, which landed on a number of lists for best genre efforts of the year. The effectiveness of Saint Maud resulted in Glass earning specific praise with her skills at developing a “strong female lead,” with her follow-up film, Love Lies Bleeding, seeing her explore that term in a much more literal sense, as it focuses on a love story that is ignited at a gym in the ’80s. Love Lies Bleeding hits select theaters on March 8th and expands nationwide on March 15th.

A24 describes the film, “From Director Rose Glass comes an electric new love story; reclusive gym manager Lou (Kristen Stewart) falls hard for Jackie (Katy O’Brian), 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.”

Love Lies Bleeding also stars Ed Harris and Dave Franco. 

O’Brian has showcased her physical abilities in projects like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Mandalorian, but the nature of Love Lies Bleeding required her to put that physicality at the forefront, while the narrative saw her flexing emotional muscles for the experience.

While speaking to whether the emotional or physical aspects were more challenging, O’Brian shared with ComicBook.com, “Emotionally. Well, no, I don’t know. It’s more of just applying it in the moment, because sometimes you get ready, and you’re all prepared and stuff, and then some stupid stuff happens that you have to deal with, and then you have to start it all over again.”

She continued, “But, usually, I don’t have to work out as long when I’m working, but I don’t know. It was fun for me. Rose, at no point, was like, ‘Get skinnier.’ She’s like, ‘You look fine to me, so do what you want.’ And I was like, ‘I want to go all the way.’ So, I don’t know. It was fun for me.”

With both Love Lies Bleeding and with Saint Maud, Glass takes viewers into some fantastical and surreal places, with these journeys igniting debates among audiences about whether these events are literal or figurative experiences. In regards to these debates, Glass expressed, “I feel like it’s up to the viewer to decide. To me, it seems pretty obvious, but I feel I’d probably make things less interesting by explaining them, so I’ll not say anything.”

Love Lies Bleeding hits select theaters on March 8th and expands nationwide on March 15th.

Are you looking forward to the new movie? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!