A24’s latest March 2024 release is the romantic thriller Love Lies Bleeding, which features an electrifying top cast. Leading the cast is The Twilight Saga star Kristen Stewart. The actress last played the lead character in 2021, portraying Princess Diana in Spencer. This time, she graces screens in a screenplay set in the 1980s.
Love Lies Bleeding is English filmmaker Rose Glass’s sophomore directed feature film after her debut in the British psychological horror Saint Maud (2019). Love Lies Bleeding centers around the unconventional love story between Lou and Jackie. The intense, romantic thriller holds a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 67 critical reviews. Here are Love Lies Bleeding‘s top cast and the characters they play.
Kristen Stewart as Lou
Academy Award-nominated actress Kristen Stewart plays Lou, the lead character in Love Lies Bleeding. Her character is a reclusive gym manager who manages her father’s dream. Lou, sporting a mullet, quickly falls in love with Jackie, a bodybuilder, after they meet at the gym. However, Lou’s life is far from perfect. Besides having the small town’s crime lord as a father, a reclusive Lou soon experiences the adrenaline-pumping action she has dreaded alongside her newfound lover, Jackie.
Katy O’Brian as Jackie
Fast-rising American actress Katy O’Brian joins Love Lies Bleeding as its co-lead character, Jackie. O’Brian plays the rising bodybuilder who drops into town to train and earn money for a bodybuilding competition in Las Vegas. However, she’s drawn into a web of love, lies, and bleeding (violence) as she stays in the little town. Katy O’Brian is known for her roles in Black Lightning (2019-2020) and The Mandalorian and for playing Jentorra in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023).
Ed Harris as Lou Sr.
Ed Harris, who has had no problem playing the villain for most of his career, joins the Love Lies Bleeding cast as the movie’s villain. Harris plays Lou Sr., the father of Kristen Stewart’s character, Lou. He not only owns the gym, which his daughter manages, but he also owns a gun range. Lou Sr. is also the small New Mexico town crime lord, smuggling guns and weapons across the border. The four-time Academy Award-nominated actor has starred in several blockbuster films throughout his over four-decade acting career. Ed Harris’ recent roles in film and television include Westworld (2016-2022) and Top Gun: Maverick (2022).
Jena Malone as Beth
Actress and singer Jena Malone plays a supporting role as Beth. Her character is Lou’s sister and Lou Sr.’s daughter. For much of Love Lies Bleeding, Malone’s character is the victim of domestic abuse at the hands of her husband. Before joining Love Lies Bleeding cast, Jena Malone is recognized for her roles in Donnie Darko (2001), The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005), Sucker Punch (2011), and The Hunger Games movies, where she played Johanna Mason.
Dave Franco as JJ
Actor and filmmaker Dave Franco returns to the big screen as one of Love Lies Bleeding‘s top cast JJ. The character plays a supporting role as Beth’s abusive husband. He’s also Lou’s brother-in-law and Lou Sr.’s son-in-law. Besides his brilliant performance, audiences can expect to see the actor sporting a mullet mustache. The last time movie audiences watched Dave Franco on screen was in the 2022 action-comedy horror Day Shift, where he co-starred alongside Jamie Foxx. Franco is also known for his roles in 21 Jump Street (2012), Now You See Me (2013) and its sequel, and The Disaster Artist (2017).
Anna Baryshnikov as Daisy
Actress Anna Baryshnikov delivers a stunning performance as Daisy, Lou’s annoying co-worker in Love Lies Bleeding. As an unmissable presence, Daisy’s continued advances towards Lou will quickly draw the ire of audiences. However, beyond the character’s annoying attitude lies one of Baryshnikov’s best performances. Since her breakout role in Manchester by the Sea (2016), Anna Baryshnikov has slowly but strongly solidified herself in Hollywood. Although she has only had a few credits on the big screen, Anna Baryshnikov has raked in several guest-starring and recurring roles on television. She’s known for playing Maya in season 1 of Superior Donuts (2017) and Lavinia Dickinson as a series regular on the Apple TV+ comedy-drama Dickinson (2019-2021). If you enjoyed Love Lies Bleeding’s romance, plot, as well as its cast performances, here are other 5 Twisted Romance Movies That Aren’t Your Typical Rom-coms.
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