Nightstream Review: 'Bleed With Me' Takes You on a Dark Ride to Nowhere

Bleed With Me has been making its festival run this year after premiering at the digital Fantasia International Film Festival. We got the chance to watch this film as part of the inaugural Nightstream Film Festival. The film was written and directed by Amelia Moses. Lee Marshall stars as Rowan who has agreed to take a trip with her new friend Emily, played by Lauren Beatty, and her boyfriend Brendan played by Aris Tyros.

Bleed With Me succeeds in building the setting right from the beginning. As the three journey to Emily’s remote cabin for a weekend away, viewers watch as Rowan sleeps in the back seat. Once they arrive to the picturesque cabin Emily immediately comforts Rowan about being the third wheel on the getaway.

Things start off awkward mainly due to the fact that Brendan feels uneasy about having Rowan along. Mainly because Emily has an injury that she is still healing from. Brendan begins to see that Emily is seemingly stepping in as caretaker for Rowan. However, the film dives head first into the strange as Rowan begins to suspect that Emily is stealing and drinking her blood.

As we learn more about the characters the more questions rise and are ultimately left unanswered by the ending. We discover that the only person who is as they seem is Brendan. As the film progresses there are lots of different storylines that add to the overall confusion of the ending. Rowan is ultimately an unreliable narrator as we see her come in and out of dreams and perhaps sanity.

After a nightmare Rowan awakes to her arm bleeding in the same spot as a cutting scar. After this happens a few times Rowan starts to think she might be going crazy and her hosts continue to try to comfort her. Unfortunately the film falls flat due to the multiple angles of misdirection because of Rowan’s unreliable view. We discover that Rowan stalked Emily before becoming friends, Emily once had a sister that resembled Rowan, and of course Emily appears to be drinking Rowan’s blood.

After a particular bad night, Rowan starts to search for anything that would prove that Emily is cutting her and drinking her blood while she sleeps. She discovers a knife and blood stained vial, confirming that Emily is indeed using her blood for something. I won’t spoil the end for you other than to say that none of the questions that are asked during this film are answered. In other words, if you like films for the journey and not the destination you’ll enjoy this film. But for me, Bleed With Me was a creepy walk to nowhere. 2.5/5