From the directing duo Glenn Ficarra and John Requa ("Crazy, Stupid, Love"), "Focus" is a movie packed with intrigue and glamour that blends comedy with criminal drama. It doesn't always work, as its script (ironically) loses focus of its story, with too many twists that are not entirely believable. However, the movie is quite enjoyable thanks to its comedic touches, elevated by Will Smith's charisma alongside the young and promising Margot Robbie ("The Wolf of Wall Street").
With Love Lies Bleeding, filmmaker Rose Glass cements herself as one of the promising directors in horror and fantasy. It may sound odd, but her second film is a crime and romance thriller that injects elements of body horror and surrealism, with results as captivating as they are controversial. Set in 1980s New Mexico, the story follows Lou (Kristen Stewart), a gym employee who falls in love with Jackie (Katy O'Brian), a bodybuilder passing through to a competition in Las Vegas. However, a tragedy pulls them both into the world of Lou’s criminal family, and violence becomes inevitable. Through its criminal plot and with a dark, twisted sense of humor also seen in Saint Maud, her previous movie, Glass satirizes romantic ideals that are incompatible with behavioral patterns that, for better and (mostly) for worse, get dragged into love relationships.
