Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Bleeding Love’

7/22/2024

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Ewan McGregor and Clara McGregor as Father and Daugther in Emma Westenberg’s BLEEDING LOVE. (Photo Courtesy of Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment.)

It is definitely safe to say, that a real sense of disillusionment exists when it comes the concept of family in this day and age, and rightfully so. Because for generations now, family and family life has been presented to us as this… slice of perfection. Wherein there is mutual respect amongst every family member, and where support is endless for one another regardless of good choices and bad choices, and where… family is always there for one another. To the point where we each think our family resembles the infamous Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post cover. Where that family happily sat around the table with real joy upon their faces as they prepared to eat a meal as warm as their love for one another, and well… we become disillusioned about family and family life because we come to learn… that’s not how family life plays out at all.

Because respect isn’t always present in family life, and sometimes the support just isn’t there and sometimes… family can outright abandon us in our moment of need, or some family members take abandonment one step further, and leave and never look back. Which makes us angry and prompts us to offer a one finger salute at ol’ Norman’s cover. Because it is in fact, a lie. Yet, while family is something that leaves us wanting more, to the point where we wonder if we are better off without family in the slightest… we will chase after it. Because regardless of the problems it affords and despite the false concepts we’ve been fed about it, it calls to us, and there is some primal part of us that understands it offers us something. But of course, we struggle for a long time to understand what that is. But there are moments of clarity that teach us what family is really all about and why we need it in our lives, as evidenced by a brand-new film that was released on digital on demand today.

A feat that Bleeding Love accomplishes by plunging us into the midst of a family in crisis. For a father and a daughter are on the road in this story, in the middle of the New Mexico desert and dear old dad… is trying his best to save his daughter’s life. For she overdosed recently courtesy of a major substance abuse problem and if he doesn’t act now, he may never see her again. A true act of love that should be welcomed with open arms, but alas. It is not. For his daughter hasn’t seen her dad in years, and he’s rarely been there for her, and she doesn’t understand why on earth he would try and help her in this manner when she believes he simply does not care. After all, he did leave her and her mother behind to start a new family. But despite their fractured past, they are now on a long and winding desert road to recovery… one that will indeed teach them both about the power and importance of family.

Which is a plot that really is… quite loaded in nature and truly explores the beauty and the folly of family life. All by giving us a situation… that is painfully relatable. Because the divide between father and daughter feels shockingly real here, since we’ve either been in their shoes in some form or fashion, or we’ve known individuals that have struggled with a scenario similar to theirs. Not to mention, their frosty relationship reinforces our disillusionment, courtesy of the ugly fights and resentment that they both take part in and project at one another. Because that’s the stuff we dealt with growing up or are dealing with growing up, and what made us lament family life. Which allows for this film to really paint a powerful picture of modern family life and how it seems so damn hopeless in this day and age and that… is the wonderous trick present in this particular film.

Because now we are vested in their journey, and that is where the story begins to explore the value of family, and why we chase it so and this film wonderfully reveals to us that why we search for it and crave it… is because deep down we understand that it provides us with so much. Because there is a bond, we share with our family members that is powerful, and unending, and we want that around because it gives us a sense of belonging in a world that is so vast and lonesome at times. Not to mention, there’s part of us that knows as well, that family sees us for who we are and knows exactly what we are capable of in every sense imaginable, and that can give us strength and lift us up when we get past the stupid stuff. The ego, the selfishness and the outright foolishness that is part of the human condition. So, we seek that, and we stop at nothing to find it so we can know the peace that accompanies those elements.

All of which are concepts that bring forth a powerful and beautiful film. One that subverts the tropes regarding family and family life that popular culture tends to reside within to give us a raw and visceral feature. One that truly showcases family as it is, messy, and angry and majestic all at once. And it doesn’t hurt that this film features some stunning performances to sell its messages. For Ewan McGregor (the Father) and his daughter Clara McGregor (the Daughter) are simply electric in this film and sell every moment with a sense of honesty that speaks to them perhaps drawing on their own experiences regarding family and family life, and well, that only adds to the majesty of this must-see feature. For it is that rare, raw and visceral film that puts so much in perspective and reminds us to whether the storm when it comes to the tough days with our family. Because we only get one, and it is special and worth protecting because truly… when the moment is right, our family members will rise to the occasion and make the fantasy of what should be, a reality. Because of that bond that cannot be broken.

Watch ‘Bleeding Love’

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