Fantasia Review: ‘Bleed With Me’

T

he practice of making friends during adulthood can be daunting. You are essentially putting your faith in someone – inviting them into your life and into your home – without properly knowing who they are. What are their values? What are their morals? Can you truly trust that they are who they say they are?

These are some of the questions raised by Bleed With Me, the feature-length directorial debut of Amelia Moses. Taking place over the course of one fateful weekend, the film follows Rowan (Lee Marshall) who accompanies her friend Emily (Lauren Beatty) and Emily’s boyfriend Brendan (Aris Tyros) to what they originally planned as a romantic getaway. Rowan is very much a third wheel no matter how hard Emily tries to insist otherwise, and that soon starts to take its toll on her and Brendan’s relationship. As the weekend progresses and tensions start to fray, Rowan starts to wonder if Emily had an ulterior motive for bringing her along.

Lee Marshall as Rowan in Bleed With Me
Lee Marshall as Rowan
Lauren Beatty in Bleed With Me
Lauren Beatty as Emily
Aris Tyros in Bleed With Me
Aris Tyros as Brendan

Bleed With Me opens with a shot of Rowan asleep in the backseat of a car, blissfully unaware of the trouble that lies ahead of her, like a lamb heading to slaughter. But as the film progresses, we start to wonder: is she the lamb? Or is she the butcher? During the course of its lean 84 minutes, Bleed With Me twists, turns and flips on itself, never providing any concrete answers, content on leaving you guessing. Little hints are given – a pointed line of dialogue here, a knowing glance there – but Moses is much more concerned with the journey than she is with the destination.

And what a journey it is. Bleed With Me is very much a slow burn. So much so that mainstream audiences, notorious for shunning arthouse horror films, will be put off by its gradual build-up of psychological horror and lack of cheap jumpscares. More reminiscent of Sophia Takal’s Always Shine and Alex Ross Perry’s Queen of Earth, themselves deep meditations on female friendship and the toxicity of co-dependent relationships, than mainstream horror fare, Bleed With Me is more fascinated by the horror of humanity than it is by the horror of the unknown. Not to say that it doesn’t have its share of disturbing imagery and intense frights. Moses’ direction is assured in its technique, confident in its methods. She crafts a relentlessly unnerving and powerfully moving tale of two women trying to force their own ideas and preconceived notions of friendship onto one another instead of accepting each other for who they truly are. The film’s cold winter setting also adds to its tense, gloomy mood, heightening the levels of isolation and alienation experienced by its characters. The film’s middle stretch – a series of repetitive dream sequences that cast a sinister shadow on the nature of Rowan and Emily’s friendship – may come off as monotonous and grating, especially towards the latter half, but the film’s climax – part gratifying, part heartbreaking but wholly enthralling – more than makes up for it.

The performances in Bleed With Me are also nothing short of phenomenal. Marshall is simply sublime as a woman at her wit’s end, delivering a mesmerizing and searing turn as a haunted and fragile soul in need of a friend. Beatty is absolutely scintillating as the cool and confident foil to Marshall’s awkward and needy Rowan, turning in a layered performance that slowly starts to peel as the film progresses. Tyros, meanwhile, is charming and charismatic as Emily’s affable boyfriend who warms up to Rowan during the course of the film, although his character may prove to be underwritten for some. The chemistry between all three actors, however, is the film’s secret superpower; their ability to convey moods and messages to and between each other through looks and gestures alone adding depth and nuance to the film’s (slightly underwritten) narrative.

Lee Marshall and Lauren Beatty in Bleed With Me
Lee Marshall as Rowan and Lauren Beatty as Emily in Amelia Moses' 'Bleed With Me'

Haunting and unforgettable, Bleed With Me is sure to be a future horror cult classic that will undoubtedly cement Moses’ status as an exciting new name in the industry.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Bleed With Me will have its world premiere at the 2020 Fantasia Film Festival. It is currently set for a 2021 release.