Love Lied Bleeding, besides being a killer title, is a wicked, sun-baked neo noire that lets the ladies off the chain. It’s a tale of murder, mayhem, and gym memberships set in dark corners, darker rooms, and too much sunshine and not enough room in a pickup truck for all the bodies kind of world.

It’s a weird crime thriller muscle flexin’ lesbian love story head trip. It stars Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian, and The Crypt Keeper (I mean Ed Harris with straggly long hair). Stewart and O’Brian are gym rats who fall in love (or convenience) and get embroiled in some good old fashioned murder and crime.

This is a very stylish, very cool movie that feels like something Steven Soderbergh would have made. Like someone saw the rippling muscles on Katy O’Brian and wrote a movie for her just like Soderbergh did for Channing Tatum and Gina Carano. Or maybe Katy just flexed her muscles and a universe with a script written just for her popped into existence. I could believe it.

The film is a sordid ball of sex and murder… and if that’s your jam, you’ll wallow in it with sheer sick delight. I was impressed by the film’s tone, its dark angry heart, and its cast of bad news bears. Also enjoyed its casual surreal imagery… and I was upset they didn’t use the song She’s Actual Size by They Might Be Giants (what a missed opportunity… what? It doesn’t fit the vibe? Fine. <sigh>).

Amusingly (and perhaps tellingly), the flick feels more like a Coen Brothers film than Drive-Away Dolls did (got to get those brothers back together again).

Love Lies Bleeding is too cool to be just called sleazy or sordid… though it is those things gleefully. It’s a fun and mental in a rubbing-your-hands-together-with-wicked-glee kind of way. Check it out of you like your murder with a side of lesbian bodybuilders (you know, that old trope).

Score: 84