I saw Glass’s previous film, Saint Maud, a couple of years back and really enjoyed it, though I think it was a tad overhyped. Love Lies Bleeding is better and somehow weirder than Saint Maud.

 From the opening frames, all dark and neon lights, we know (because we’re skooled in genre filmmaking) we’re entering the province of film noir. The year is 1989, the place is rural New Mexico, and our first of two protagonists is Lou (Kristen Stewart), a bored, depressed manager of a gym owned by her dad (Ed Harris)—who owns a shooting gallery and restaurant just out of town and, on the side, runs a drug cartel (as you do). One night, our second protagonist, Beth (Anna Baryshnikov), enters the gym. She’s a body-builder who’s looking to make it big in Vegas. The moment Lou sets her eyes on Beth, she falls madly, deeply in love. A relationship blooms, one involving a fuck tonne of steroid use and sex. When Lou’s brother-in-law bashes Lou’s sister (for the umpteenth time), sending her to hospital, a “roided-out” Beth seeks revenge on behalf of her lover. Things quickly go downhill from there as Lou Snr is drawn into the mess, his operation threatened by the actions of Beth and Lou.

 The first half of the movie is your typical hard-boiled narrative with a queer bent and copious drug use. But then there’s this sudden injection of magic realism that took me by surprise. I won’t tell you when it happens or how, but I found it exciting—even if a part of me wonders whether it entirely works. Even if I have reservations, I love an artist who is willing to do this, who is willing to put everything on the line to achieve a particular effect.

 The performances are also great. Ed Harris is Ed Harris; he’s great, but you know what you’re getting. Kristen Stewart and Anna Baryshnikov do all the heavy lifting, and they are magnificent. Their sizzling chemistry allows Glass to deliver her unconventional climax (an understatement).

I loved the ending, but I’m predisposed to love that sort of thing. I found it worked thematically, with love under duress trumping evil. I do wonder how it played with your typical film noir fan. Still, if you’re looking for some bold, heavily stylised and clever film-making featuring a dangerous, spiky queer love story, then see this. It might even be better than Bound.