Love Lies Bleeding Ending Explained: Flowery Heaven or Symbolic Hell?

Love Lies Bleeding is a tale of Lou and Jackie, who fall in love and fall for a treacherous scheme that changes their lives once and for all.  

The film stars Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brien as Lou and Jackie, respectively. Lou is a gym trainer, and Jackie is a bodybuilder, and they both get involved in a violent scheme after a very flowery start. The film has an undertone of magic realism as the protagonists have special powers like Jackie’s ability to grow and shrink her muscles based on her emotions and Lou’s vision that can trace blood trails effectively.

In this article, we will discuss and dissect the film’s ending, which many perceived as ambiguous. 

1. Love Lies Bleeding Ending Explained

Love Lies Bleeding ends with Lou and Jackie entering an estranged spaceship, where Ed Harris reveals that he has chosen them to be the first inhabitants of his new world. The couple decide to trust Harris and enter the pod, and it flies away into the night sky. 

The film’s ending is left very open and ambiguous, and the makers let the audience’s imagination do the talking. The tone of the film is turned on its head in the last few moments, and we discover an entirely new narrative developing.

After escaping from the police and the drug dealers, Lou and Jackie drive to a remote desert, where they find a giant metal structure that resembles a spaceship. Upon entering, they discover a plethora of futuristic tech and are greeted by Ed Harris, Jackie’s estranged father. Ed reveals he’s a scientist working on a massive project to create a new world, and Lou and Jackie are chosen to be its first inhabitants. 

Ed also confesses that he’s been manipulating and puppeteering their lives and is proud of their love and bravery. Finally, Ed Harris asks them to enter a pod that will transport them to the new world, and they can start their lives afresh.

Initially, Lou and Jackie are stunned by the revelation, but they decide to trust Harris and enter the pod. The film ends with the last shot of the spaceship flying away into the night sky, leaving behind a trail of smoke and dust.

2. The Ending Has Several Interpretations

The film’s ending can be interpreted in several ways. The most obvious one is the literal interpretation, where Harris is telling the truth. Maybe he is a benevolent genius who created a new world for Lou and Jackie to start their lives with nothing but love and curiosity. 

However, the ending can also be interpreted as a hallucination. Harris may be a sinister manipulator, and the two actually die inside the pod. 

Finally, let’s not forget the symbolic implications. It is possible that Harris is just a projection of Lou and Jackie’s minds, and they are actually committing suicide inside the pod.

This iteration might seem very dark, but a film with magic realism often contains a paradigm-shifting metaphor. 

3. About Love Lies Bleeding

Love Lies Bleeding is a 2024 romantic thriller film directed by Rose Glass from a screenplay she co-wrote with Weronika Tofilska, and starring Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian, Jena Malone, Anna Baryshnikov, Dave Franco, and Ed Harris.

Set in the 1980s, it chronicles the relationship between a reclusive gym manager with a crime family and an ambitious bodybuilder. Love Lies Bleeding premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on January 20. It was released theatrically in the United States by A24 on March 8, 2024, and is set for release in the United Kingdom by Lionsgate UK on May 3, 2024.