Small-town loner Lou is currently working as a gym manager, a job where she’s wasting away, unclogging toilets and slipping steroids to bulked-up juicers. That suddenly changes when a new customer walks in and hits her like a lightning strike of love: Jackie, an ambitious bodybuilder headed through town to Vegas in pursuit of her dream. But their love ignites violence, as there´s also Lou´s family, especially her estranged father, who´s shadowy influence begins to pull both women into a web of crime…

Let me get this out at the start: this movie is a love story, but one that wades through a ditch filled with blood and muck. Seldom have I seen a movie with such a raw, grimy feel to it. From steamy sex scenes to viscerally brutal violence (sometimes bordering on body horror) this movie has everything. And still, I found myself gleefully entertained the whole way through. A big part of this is the excellent acting, both from Kristen Stewart, who has already proven her talent for playing troublesome personas, as well as her co-stars Katy O´Brian and Ed Harris. The other part is an electrifying narrative that never lets up, as director Rose Glass creates a slow-motion human car crash made of bad decisions, atrocious haircuts and forbidden love that I would recommend to anyone who can stomach the blood. (SaL)