Rose Glass didn't just make a movie with Love Lies Bleeding; she basically threw a brick through a window. It’s sweaty. It’s loud. It’s got Kristen Stewart looking like she hasn't slept in three weeks and Katy O'Brian looking like she could crush a boulder with her bare hands. Finding movies like Love Lies Bleeding isn't actually about finding another bodybuilding flick. Not really. It’s about that specific, grimy intersection of "lesbian crime caper" and "body horror fever dream."
You want the dirt. You want the neon. You want the feeling that everything is about to go horribly wrong because of a bad decision made in the heat of passion.
The 2024 film caught people off guard because it refused to be one thing. Is it a romance? Sure. Is it a thriller? Definitely. Is it a surrealist nightmare about steroid abuse and 1980s Americana? You bet. To find something that scratches that same itch, we have to look at films that share its DNA—whether that’s the queer noir vibes, the extreme physical transformation, or that "A24-adjacent" grime that makes you want to take a shower after the credits roll.
The Queer Noir Roots: Where the Grit Begins
If you loved the relationship between Lou and Jackie, you have to go back to the source of modern queer neo-noir. We’re talking about Bound. This was the Wachowskis’ directorial debut in 1996, and honestly, it still clears most modern thrillers.
Bound features Gina Gershon as a butch ex-con plumber and Jennifer Tilly as a mobster's girlfriend. The chemistry? It’s electric. The stakes? Just as high as Lou’s scrap yard dealings. But where Love Lies Bleeding goes for surrealism, Bound stays locked in a tight, Hitchcockian box. It’s all about the shadows, the whispers through the pipes, and the heist.
Then there’s The Handmaiden. Park Chan-wook’s masterpiece is much more "prestige" than the dusty New Mexico setting of Rose Glass’s film, but it shares that core theme: two women against a world of predatory, grotesque men. It’s a con-artist story that twists itself into a pretzel. The violence is sharp. The obsession is deep. If the "us against the world" aspect of Love Lies Bleeding was your favorite part, this is your next stop.
Why Movies Like Love Lies Bleeding Lean Into Body Horror
Jackie’s physical transformation in the film isn't just about fitness. It’s a mutation. It’s body horror. Rose Glass used Saint Maud—her previous film—to explore religious fervor through the body, and she does it here with muscles and rage.
When searching for movies like Love Lies Bleeding, you can't ignore Titane. Julia Ducournau’s 2021 Palme d’Or winner is... a lot. It’s about a woman with a titanium plate in her head who has an intimate encounter with a car and later disguises herself as a man to hide from the police. It’s aggressive. It’s tender in ways that feel wrong. It treats the human body like a piece of malleable clay, much like Jackie’s physique becomes a site of both power and destruction.
Speaking of the 80s and the "dark side of the dream," look at The Neon Demon.
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Nicolas Winding Refn’s movie is about the modeling industry rather than bodybuilding, but the vibes overlap perfectly. It’s saturated in colors that don't exist in nature. It features a young woman being consumed—sometimes literally—by an industry that demands perfection. It’s cold, where Love Lies Bleeding is hot, but they both inhabit that same surreal, high-fashion-meets-gutter-trash universe.
The "Bad People Doing Bad Things" Thriller
Sometimes you just want to watch people make the absolute worst choices possible. Love Lies Bleeding thrives on the "crime gone wrong" trope.
- Red Rocket (2021): Sean Baker is the king of filming the "unpolished" parts of America. This movie follows a washed-up porn star returning to his Texas hometown. It’s got that same sun-bleached, desperate energy.
- Monster (2003): Charlize Theron’s portrayal of Aileen Wuornos is the spiritual godmother to the gritty, physical performances we see in modern neo-noirs. It’s a tragic, brutal look at queer life on the fringes.
- Badlands (1973): The "lovers on the run" archetype starts here. Terrence Malick’s debut is quieter and more poetic, but you can see its fingerprints all over the Lou/Jackie dynamic.
People often forget how much the setting matters. The New Mexico desert in Glass's film is a character. It’s empty. It’s unforgiving. It’s the kind of place where you can bury a body and nobody will find it for twenty years. No Country for Old Men captures that same desolation, though it lacks the sweaty romance.
Misconceptions About the "Bodybuilder Movie" Genre
A lot of people think that because Love Lies Bleeding features a bodybuilder, they should go watch Pumping Iron or Generation Iron.
Bad idea.
Those are documentaries. They’re great, but they aren't "vibey." They don't have the hallucinogenic quality of Jackie’s muscles literally rippling under her skin like they're alive. If you want the feeling of the obsession without the documentary dryly explaining it, watch Stay Hungry (1976). It stars a young Arnold Schwarzenegger and deals with the weird subculture of gyms in a way that feels oddly grounded yet eccentric.
But even then, it’s missing the "noir" element.
The reality is that movies like Love Lies Bleeding are a rare breed because they blend "high art" cinematography with "B-movie" exploitation plots. It’s what critics call "elevated genre." It’s a film that knows it’s a pulpy thriller but decides to look like a painting anyway.
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The Rose Glass Connection and the Female Gaze
You can’t talk about this film without talking about the "female gaze." It’s a term that gets thrown around a lot, but here it actually means something. Usually, in movies about strong women, the camera looks at them like they're pin-ups.
Rose Glass doesn't do that.
She looks at Jackie’s muscles with a mix of awe and terror. She looks at Lou’s desperation with empathy. To find that elsewhere, check out Raw. It’s another Julia Ducournau film (the Titane director). It’s about a vegetarian girl at veterinary school who develops a taste for meat. Human meat. It’s a coming-of-age story that is deeply, viscerally focused on the female body's desires and its capacity for violence.
There’s also Promising Young Woman. While much more "pop" and brightly colored, it shares that DNA of a woman seeking vengeance in a world that wasn't built for her. It’s angry. It’s stylish. It’s polarizing.
Technical Mastery: Lighting and Sound
One reason Love Lies Bleeding sticks in your brain is the sound design. The wet thud of a punch. The hum of the gym lights. The synth-heavy score by Clint Mansell.
If the "vibe" is what you’re chasing, you need to watch Drive.
Yeah, it’s the "literally me" movie for a certain type of internet guy, but forget the memes for a second. The way Refn uses silence and neon is exactly what Rose Glass is doing in the New Mexico desert. The soundtrack is a character. The violence is sudden, explosive, and frankly, a bit sickening.
Another one? Good Time by the Safdie Brothers.
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It’s a different kind of stress. It’s the "everything is going wrong and I have to fix it in the next ten minutes" kind of stress. Robert Pattinson is frantic. The lights are red and blue and oppressive. It’s got that same kinetic, heart-attack energy that picks up in the second half of Love Lies Bleeding.
What Most People Get Wrong About This Keyword
When people search for "movies like" something, they often look for identical plots. If you just look for "lesbian crime movies," you might end up with something like I Care a Lot. It’s fine, but it’s not Love Lies Bleeding. It doesn't have the soul. It doesn't have the weirdness.
The "weirdness" is the key.
The ending of Love Lies Bleeding—without spoiling it—takes a hard turn into the fantastical. It stops being a gritty crime drama and becomes something else entirely. If that's what you loved, you should be looking at films like Under the Skin. It’s sci-fi, but it’s grounded in a terrifying, physical reality. It stars Scarlett Johansson as an alien in Scotland, and it is one of the most unsettling things you’ll ever see. It’s about the body as a vessel, a costume, and a weapon.
The Essential Watchlist: A Quick Reference
Since we're avoiding those boring, identical bullet points, let's just break it down by what "flavor" of the movie you're actually looking for.
If you want the queer crime energy, go with Bound or The Handmaiden. If you're here for the sweaty, muscular body horror, your best bets are Titane or Raw. If you just want that desperate, small-town crime vibe, watch Red Rocket or Blue Ruin.
And honestly? If you just want more Kristen Stewart being incredible, watch Personal Shopper. It’s a ghost story, but it has that same tension where you’re not sure if what you’re seeing is real or if the protagonist is just losing her mind.
Actionable Next Steps for the Cinephile
- Start with "Bound": It’s the most direct ancestor to the Lou/Jackie dynamic. It’s fun, it’s sexy, and it’s a perfect thriller.
- Explore the A24/Neon Catalogs: These distributors have a "type." If you liked the visual style of Love Lies Bleeding, browse the back catalogs of Neon (who distributed it) and A24. Look for titles like Zola or Spring Breakers.
- Watch "Saint Maud": See where Rose Glass started. It’s shorter, tighter, and even more disturbing. It’ll give you a better appreciation for her directing style.
- Check out the Cinematography of Ben Fordesman: He’s the guy who shot the film. Look up his other work to see how he uses color and shadow to create that oppressive atmosphere.
Don't just look for movies with bodybuilders. Look for movies that feel like a fever. Look for movies where the characters are willing to burn their whole lives down for a single person. That’s the real heart of the genre. Go find something that makes you feel a little bit uneasy and a whole lot of adrenaline.