Every Death In Love Lies Bleeding Explained

Spoiler Warning: This article contains spoilers for Love Lies Bleeding.

Love Lies Bleeding sees lovers Lou and Jackie embark on a wild ride filled with violence and death as they make their way to a bodybuilding competition in Las Vegas, Nevada. The newly released Love Lies Bleeding features creative kills and a strong performance by Kristen Stewart that reinforces her talent, while also keeping the chaos and violence grounded and engaging. While some characters in the film are involved in organized crime, others are simply oblivious to the real danger that lurks underneath the surface of Lou and Jackie’s complicated relationship.

Love Lies Bleeding‘s critical acclaim also speaks volumes to filmmaker Rose Glass’s mastery of her aesthetic and creative narrative approach to crime thriller storytelling. While other movies in the genre, such as, Thelma & Louise and Fatal Attraction explore more of the psychology behind their respective killers, Love Lies Bleeding highlights the external factors that contribute to its protagonists embarking on their killing spree. From family to other civilians, Lou and Jackie prove throughout the film that they’ll do anything to preserve the love that they share.

Jackie Kills JJ Early In Love Lies Bleeding

Jackie kills JJ by repeatedly smashing his face into a coffee table.

Played by Dave Franco, JJ is an abusive man who’s seen treating virtually every woman in the film with disrespect and contempt. Chiefly among his victims is his wife, Beth, whom, despite his abusive and manipulative ways, chooses to stay with him for the sake of upholding their family, even though Lou completely hates him. Although JJ helps Jackie secure a job, albeit through sleeping with her first, she quickly develops a dislike for him too. After an argument between Lou and Jackie and Beth ending up in the hospital after being beaten by JJ, Jackie decides to kill him.

Unbeknownst to JJ, Lou Sr. also intends to kill or, at the very least, intimidate him for sending Beth to the hospital, but before he can exact his own brand of justice, Jackie sneaks into JJ and Beth’s home and ambushes the man. After beating him to a pulp, Jackie smashes JJ’s face into a coffee table, effectively dislodging his mandible, and leaves him on the floor to asphyxiate and eventually die. Lou helps Jackie clean the crime scene before dropping his car and corpse down a ravine, whereupon Lou informs Jackie of her family ties to organized crime.

Jackie Thinks She Killed Daisy, But She Survived

Despite being shot in the face by Jackie, Daisy survives her murder attempt.

While Jackie is initially uninterested in guns, she quickly takes a liking to them after Lou Sr. teaches her how to handle a handgun at his shooting range. Later in the film, Lou Sr. coerces Jackie into killing Lou since she threatened to tell the FBI about his criminal organization. Lou Sr. uses Jackie’s newfound skills with guns to turn her into his personal assassin, and he sends her to Lou’s apartment to silence her. However, Jackie ends up shooting Lou’s friend Daisy in the face instead, after assuming Lou was cheating on her with Daisy.

Early in Love Lies Bleeding, it is established that one of Lou’s only friends, Daisy, is infatuated with her. Her obsession turns into full-blown stalking, which itself results in her witnessing Lou and Jackie attempting to get rid of JJ’s car and body shortly after Jackie kills him. In an effort to have her way with Lou, Daisy uses the information as blackmail, which effectively forces Lou into a relationship with Daisy. However, Jackie later shoots her in the face, but after surviving, Lou strangles her in the back of her truck during the film’s ending.

Lou Killed A Man In The Past For Her Father

A flashback shows Lou shooting a blindfolded man in the head.

Despite never getting the full details regarding Lou and her father Lou Sr.’s relationship, their overall attitudes toward each other provides enough context to suggest things aren’t great. However, flashbacks to Lou’s past demonstrate that Lou Sr. once attempted to groom Lou into a remorseless killer just like himself, under the assumption she would be able to take over his operation should anything happen to him. As such, viewers witness Lou shooting a blindfolded man in the head, which causes his body to fall down the ravine where the duo cover their murderous tracks.

Lou Seems To Kill The Cop Working For Her Dad

Although not shown, the scene implies Lou kills Officer Mike before fleeing.

After Lou threatens to expose Lou Sr. to the FBI if he harms Jackie, it’s revealed that Lou Sr. has a police officer on his payroll who’s credited in the film’s credits as Officer Mike. After Officer Mike breaks into Lou’s apartment, they engage in a brief shootout before Lou wounds Officer Mike with blind fire. Lou pistol whips him, knocking him semi-unconscious before leaving her apartment. While it isn’t explicitly shown, it is implied Lou killed Officer Mike before leaving her apartment, as he’s never seen or heard from again after their shootout.

Did Lou Sr. Kill Lou’s Mother?

Lou Sr. claims Lou’s mother simply left because she didn’t love him or Lou anymore.

One of Love Lies Bleeding‘s biggest mysteries is whether Lou Sr. killed his wife/Lou’s mother, or if she voluntarily left the family. Based on Lou’s interactions with the FBI, it is implied that Lou’s mother simply disappeared after law enforcement received a phone call from her during a fight with Lou Sr. However, Lou Sr. exclaims that she left the family because she hated Lou. While Lou Sr.’s claim is rooted in a strong conviction that sounds possible, it must be taken with a grain of salt since he says it while trying to kill Lou near the film’s climax.

While there isn’t a lot of concrete evidence to support Lou Sr.’s claim, one of the strongest themes in Love Lies Bleeding centers around oppressive men abusing women whom they view as weak. As demonstrated by JJ, he takes advantage of Jackie when she first makes it into town, and he’s mentally, emotionally, and physically abusive to his wife Beth. While Lou Sr. demonstrates abusive tendencies toward women, he does make a concerted effort to handle JJ for sending his daughter to the hospital, which vaguely suggests he might have told the truth about Lou’s mother leaving the family.

One could argue that, while having a contentious relationship with Lou and being aware of JJ’s abuse of his daughter Beth, he did love them deep down. Although it is doubtful, it is also possible that Lou’s mother simply left the family after learning about Lou Sr.’s criminal dealings. Since audiences never learn anything about Lou’s mother, it is entirely possible she was just as bad a parent as Lou Sr., which would explain her walking out on her daughters.

Why Lou & Jackie Don’t Kill Lou Sr.

Killing Lou Sr. would allow him to avoid any repercussions for his crimes.

Love Lies Bleeding‘s ending demonstrates that violence is a cycle that can only be broken by choosing not to engage in it. Despite Lou Sr.’s efforts to silence both protagonists, Lou and Jackie decide not to kill him, even after Jackie’s steroid abuse transforms her into a giant. They instead leave Lou Sr. behind for the police to arrest, and they escape all the death and carnage left behind to embark on a new life together. However, the once thought dead Daisy comes to in the back of Lou’s pick-up truck, which forces her to strangle Daisy to death.

While the scene is played for laughs, it also reinforces Glass’s thematic expression of violence corrupting those who engage in it. While Lou and Jackie always demonstrated troubling characteristics, they generally had a strong control over them prior to them killing people. Lou was certain she wasn’t like Lou Sr., but as the film progresses, she proves time and again that she isn’t much different from the man she deems as psychotic. Love Lies Bleeding takes its audience on a wild ride that examines a romance marred by violence that ultimately proves some people will do anything for love.