Summary
Love Lies Bleedinghas an impressive cast, not because of how many actors it has, but because of the excellent quality of their acting skills, but it ended up being a dark mirror to a $158 million movie starring two of them in similar roles. The first half of 2024 saw a variety of movies that went on to become hits with critics and viewers, and one of them isLove Lies Bleeding. Directed by Rose Glass,Love Lies Bleedingis a romantic thriller starring Kristen Stewart as Lou Langston and Katy O’Brian as Jackie Cleaver.
Love Lies Bleedingtakes viewers back to 1989 to meet Lou, a gym manager with a toxic and complicated past and family background, and Jackie, a homeless bodybuilder who arrives at Lou’s gym. Lou and Jackie begin a romantic but intense relationship that quickly escalates when Jackie gets involved in a murder. This has direct consequences on Lou and Jackie, leading them to Lou’s psychopath father, Lou Sr. (Ed Harris). Lou’s family dynamic with her father and sister is key toLove Lies Bleeding, but it’s also a dark mirror to a previous movie starring Harris and another cast member.
What Happened To Katy O’Brian’s Jackie In Love Lies Bleeding
Jackie goes through a sudden transformation at the end of Love Lies Bleeding, but it has a completely different meaning and reason than it seems.
Ed Harris & Jena Malone Played Father & Daughter In Stepmom
Love Lies Bleeding Wasn’t Harris & Malone’s First Role As Father & Daughter
Stepmomis a comedy-drama starring Julia Roberts as Isabel, Susan Sarandon as Jackie, and Ed Harris as Luke.
Jena Malone plays Beth Langston inLove Lies Bleeding, Lou’s oldest sister who is married to JJ (Dave Franco), an abusive man who also worked for Lou Sr. at a shooting range. Lou mentions early inLove Lies Bleedingthat she doesn’t talk to her father and thus has nothing to do with him aside from managing the gym (which he owns), but Beth seems to have more contact with him, mostly due to JJ. Interestingly enough, this isn’t the only time Ed Harris and Jena Malone have played father and daughter, as they did so back in 1998 inStepmom.
Directed by Chris Columbus,Stepmomis a comedy-drama starring Julia Roberts as Isabel, Susan Sarandon as Jackie, and Ed Harris as Luke.Jackie and Luke are divorced and struggle to co-parenttheir two children, Anna (Jena Malone) and Ben (Liam Aiken), while Luke is engaged to Isabel, who is several years younger than him. Jackie is also silently battling lymphoma, which makes her fears of Isabel becoming her children’s stepmother even bigger, while Isabel struggles to connect with Jackie’s children, especially Anna.
Love Lies Bleeding Gives A Dark Twist To Harris & Malone’s Father/Daughter Dynamic
Lou Sr. & Beth Are Nothing Like Luke & Anna
The relationship between Beth and Lou Sr. inLove Lies Bleedingisn’t explored, but given Lou Sr.’s support of JJ, it’s implied she was also constantly manipulated by her dad.
Although they address different themes and have completely different contexts,Love Lies Bleedingends up being a dark mirror to Harris and Malone’s father/daughter dynamic inStepmom. In Columbus’ film,Anna and Luke didn’t have the best relationshipas Anna was affected by the divorce and Luke’s relationship with Isabel,but they did their best to mend their relationship, especially after Jackie’s illness was revealed to her kids. The relationship between Beth and Lou Sr. inLove Lies Bleedingisn’t explored, but given Lou Sr.’s support of JJ, it’s implied she was also constantly manipulated by her dad.
At the end ofStepmom, it’s implied that Jackie eventually dies and Isabel becomes Anna and Ben’s mother figure.InLove Lies Bleeding, it’s implied that Lou Sr. killed Lou and Beth’s mother, perhaps because she knew too much about his crimes, but to Lou and Beth, their mother simply abandoned them. Lou Sr. remarried at some point, and his wife picked Beth up from the hospital when Lou couldn’t.Stepmom’s Luke would never have supported Anna’s abusive partnerand relationship and would have defended her, but the same can’t be said for Lou Sr., who only cared about his own benefit.
Atthe end ofLove Lies Bleeding, Lou decides not to kill her father and leave him for the police, who are on their way to his house and leaves with Jackie. It’s unclear what happens to Beth after that, as she no longer has her husband, her father is about to be arrested, and her sister leaves her after she’s incapable of seeing what is going on.Stepmom, on the other hand, gives Anna a bittersweet ending, as Jackie will die, but Anna will still have a family after that.
Love Lies Bleeding
Love Lies Bleeding is an action crime film from A24. Directed by Rose Glass, Love Lies Bleeding centers on a gym employee, played by Kristen Stewart, and a bisexual bodybuilder (Katy O’Brian) as they discover how difficult the world of competitive bodybuilding is. The film also stars Jena Malone, Anna Baryshnikov, Dave Franco, and Ed Harris.
