Bleed With Me (2020)

Streaming Services: Shudder

Movie Name/Year: Bleed With Me (2020)
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Length:  120 minutes
Rating: Unrated
Production/Distribution: Epic Pictures
Director: Amelia Moses
Writer: Amelia Moses
Actors: Lee Marshall, Lauren Beatty, Aris Tyros
 
Blurb from IMDb:  During a winter getaway at an isolated cabin, a self-destructive young woman becomes convinced that her best friend is stealing her blood.

 
Cat’s Point of View:
The credits have rolled for Bleed With Me and I am reminded of a scene from The Princess Bride where the evil count has Westley in his clutches in the ‘Pit of Despair’ and claims to have sucked one year of his life away. This movie might not have taken a whole year, but Bleed With Me did strip 2 hours of my life away that I can neither unsee nor get back.
 
I can’t remember the last time I was so bored by a film. It was a legitimate struggle for me to pay attention. I soldiered through it – but it definitely felt like work rather than an enjoyable cinematic experience.

 
We’ve talked before about how movies with an extremely small cast and limited settings create a greater challenge for a production. It raises the bar for everyone involved from writing and directing to cast performances. Everything has to be nuanced and on point to keep the audience’s attention. There have been a few movies Trust the Dice has reviewed before that have succeeded. The first couple that comes to mind would be Malcolm and Marie (2021) and Scenic Route (2013).
 
Bleed With Me fell far short of being successful.
 
Everything was paced so slowly. I get the likely reasoning that things were out of focus for so much of the film, but it annoyed me. It did not actually offer substance to the mental state of the characters.  The tense and dramatic soundtrack felt like it was building up to something that the story never really delivered on. Overall, everything just felt disjointed and awkward and I couldn’t get into it.

Hey, maybe that was the point?  I’m sure that there are some looking at this from an artistic perspective that might think it’s brilliantly avant-garde or something like that. Probably not the cup of tea mainstream audiences were looking for, though.
 
The only lasting burning question I have in relation to Bleed With Me was whether or not there was intended symbolism with the rabbits. I do, indeed, have bunnies on the brain lately so the rabbit wallpaper in the cabin put together with other story elements has me wondering. Alas, it’s likely something I’ll never have an answer for. I’m okay with that.
 
If you’d like to give Bleed With Me a whirl to judge for yourself, it premieres on Shudder starting Tuesday, August 10th.

 
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 83%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – None
Metascore – None
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – 5.0/10
 
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 1/5
 
Trust the Dice: Parental Advisory Rating – R
 
Movie Trailer: