Bleeding Love, 2024.
Directed by Emma Westenberg.
Starring Clara McGregor, Ewan McGregor, Kim Zimmer, Devyn McDowell, Sasha Alexander, Jake Weary, Vera Bulder, Travis Hammer, Clint Obenchain, Kristin K. Berg, Jacob Browne, J. Nathan Simmons, Willard Runsabove, Helen Trencher, Eve Kozikowski, Erica Bitton, and Ilasiea Gray.
SYNOPSIS:
A father takes his estranged daughter on a road trip in an effort to get her out of trouble. Along the way they meet all types of strangers, as their strained relationship is put to the test.
Real-life father and daughter pairing Ewan and Clara McGregor finely navigate some devastating emotional material with vulnerable, expressive, tormented honesty playing an on-screen pairing of the same dynamic in director Emma Westenberg’s Bleeding Love. And while it is a recovery story, it is more a film about that daughter coming to terms with the fact that her father has changed for the better.
Having overdosed 12 hours ago, the estranged nameless Father and 20-year-old Daughter have reunited for a cross-country trip seemingly meant to decompress her from a rollercoaster morning and remind her that life is worth living and that, even if her father hasn’t always been there for her, he still loves her. If anything, the worst of her personality comes from taking after her father, who was frequently drunk and a terrible husband, all of which is made more complicated by some happy moments, such as an exciting day at a baseball game that is glimpsed through flashbacks. Nevertheless, their adventures on the road are tense. The situation could combust at any moment, especially since the daughter is frequently in a hurry to run off and find substances to abuse and questionable men to befriend.
Coming from a misguided script by Ruby Castor (although she is not the only one to blame here as star Clara McGregor, Vera Bulder, and Elle Malan also have related story-based credits), these adventures also include encounters with a plethora of oddball characters that not only interrupt the compelling early core drama between father and daughter but are weirdly comedic, as if they have been ripped straight out of a Grand Theft Auto Strangers and Freaks set of missions (without the biting satire), and rarely fit into this narrative. It’s unclear if the film is trying to make a commentary on the many different forms strangers come in, ranging from bleeding heart kindness to cruel and manipulative, or if the filmmakers bafflingly think cramming in comedy is the way to go for such an emotionally draining story.
The one upside to this is that Bleeding Love doesn’t spend most of its running time spilling out the details of what happened between them; even the flashbacks are brief montages. There’s an organic punch to the dialogue, with father and daughter speaking their minds, especially in heated arguments, saying what’s on their mind without dumbing it down to explain the past. They naturally say things, subsequently allowing us to learn more about them in ways that feel true and honest. Unsurprisingly, the chemistry between Ewan and Clara McGregor is there, both sweet and fierce.
Unfortunately, the script doesn’t know what to do with any of this built-up goodwill, devolving into a series of clichéd and contrived scenarios that don’t feel nearly as honest and real as the characters themselves. Bleeding Love almost feels engineered to be as tediously repetitive as possible, cyclically going from father and daughter bonding to being torn apart by something else. The story hits upon nearly every familiar beat of rejecting and ultimately embracing recovery.
And despite the occasional glimpse of gorgeous scenery, the direction from Emma Westenberg disappointingly boils down to one flashy trick: admittedly impressive unbroken shots inside the moving vehicle sliding back and forth between the faces of father and daughter. Somehow, Bleeding Love has a moving emotional payoff for the ending, but that’s more of a testament to the forces of Ewan and Clara McGregor. It’s a shame the filmmakers don’t trust them to carry the entire film without interruptions from an assortment of mostly useless secondary characters.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
