Year: 2023
Director:
Screenplay: Ruby Caster, Clara McGregor and Vera Bulder
Starring: Clara McGregor, Ewan McGregor
Synopsis is here
Bleeding Love opens with something that’s become a familiar
pattern in today’s fractured media landscape. Like many independent features of
its kind, the film begins with a multitude of different film production idents.
Most of them are unheard of. Such openings have become a clear example of how difficult it is to get certain movies off the ground. It certainly makes
this production feel more determined.
Ironically, the dogged nature of the barrage of production
labels feels correct for Bleeding Love. It is a film about drug addiction and
estranged family ties. To gain a solid footing on such themes in real life
tenacity is often a key component. For lead actress Clara McGregor, who also
has producer, story and singer credits on the film, it’s clear that she's dying
to say something in this film. And is looking for as many ways to express that.
It possibly helps that having a famous father helps. Clara
co-stars alongside her dad Ewan in this good-natured and well-intentioned tale
of a father who is covertly taking his daughter to rehab hours after she’s
overdosed. Their fractious relationship gets quickly established in the film's
opening scene where Clara’s daughter character asks her dad to pull over on the
roadside so she can relive herself. It’s an excuse to flee as the girl sprints
off with her father struggling to keep the pace. It’s a funny moment. Bleeding
Love effectively sets up the relationship between the couple and the tone finds
its footing quickly.
There’s some intriguing stuff to chew on here. Ewan McGregor
is well known for his breakthrough role as Scottish heroin addict Renton in the
90s’ phenomenon Trainspotting (1996). There is a dry sense of humour in seeing
McGregor come full circle. His features are now only slightly gone to seed. He
finds himself in the role of a father who feels he knows better. In Bleeding
Love, his role as dad comes with a keen knowledge of where substance abuse can
take you. In this story, it soon becomes apparent that this parental figure has had
his share of demons but is trying his best to steer that around. This road trip
with his daughter becomes a chance for him to bury some of his skeletons while
keeping his daughter from creating her own.
Clara McGregor as the unnamed daughter has some entertaining
moments throughout the film. Her substance-addicted character is not too overzealous. However, she is perhaps too fresh-faced and striking to seem as in
trouble as the film suggests. The chemistry between father and daughter is
solid enough. They bounce off each other as one would expect from real-life
family members.
But while both McGregors are appealing to watch, the film
never gains the emotional tug that would alleviate it above anything seen
before. Director Emma Westenberg is confident in terms of form. Her use of
wide-angle lenses to portray flashback scenes and drug use is well utilised,
and the pop aesthetic and moments of humour are enjoyable. It’s also welcoming
that many women occupy roles behind the camera to produce a film that appears
different from what could have been expected. But despite Bleeding Love’s
focus on its father-daughter relationship and small flights of fancy, the film
is often too safe to linger in the mind for very long.
Bleeding Love is available on Digital Platforms from 22nd July 2024
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