Man arrested at Love Lies Bleeding screening for allegedly engaging in sex act during movie

New Kristen Stewart movie is a queer erotic thriller set in the Eighties

A man was reportedly arrested at Michigan’s MJR Southgate Cinema after he was allegedly found engaging in a sex act during a screening of Kristen Stewart’s new movie, Love Lies Bleeding.

The moviegoer was taken into police custody on Thursday (14 March), where he still remained on Friday (15 March) morning, authorities confirmed to Variety. The man has not yet been charged or arraigned.

The movie theatre has launched an investigation into the incident, a manager confirmed to Variety.

A sexually explicit photo of the man asleep in his seat with his penis out was posted to X by user @UglyKorean, who captioned the post: “Went to go see Love Lies Bleeding and this drunk guy jacked himself off to sleep.”

In the photo, two bottles of Fireball Whiskey, a pack of cigarettes, two vapes and a movie ticket can be seen on the table next to him.

“For the record, the manager handled the situation professionally and appropriately. The manager was extremely apologetic and very nice,” @UglyKorean wrote in a follow-up tweet. They also shared a second photo showing two police officers walking through the lobby of the cinema.

Love Lies Bleeding is set in the Eighties and stars Stewart as Lou a loner gym manager who falls in love with Jackie (Katy M O’Brian), an ambitious bodybuilder. The pair are quickly roped into the violence of Lou’s father’s (Ed Harris) crimes.

Katy M O’Brian and Kristen Stewart in ‘Love Lies Bleeding’ (AP)

Directed by Ross Glass, the queer erotic thriller made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

Speaking about the new film for a recent Rolling Stone cover story, Stewart, who is bisexual, said she felt that LGBTQ+ films should be made for the mainstream.

“We can’t keep doing that thing where we tell everyone how to feel, and where we sort of pat each other on the back and receive brownie points for providing space for marginalised voices and only in the capacity that they are allowed to speak about that alone,” she said.

The 33-year-old Twilight star was pictured on the magazine cover posing in a weightlifting room with her hand down her jockstrap.

The cover photo has proved controversial, with many conservative commentators taking issue with it.

Stewart, however, has defended the photoshoot, arguing that “the existence of a female body thrusting any type of sexuality at you that’s not designed for exclusively straight males is something people are not super comfy with”.

“I’m really happy about it,” she said of the pictures at a press conference at the Berlin Film Festival last month.

Love Lies Bleeding is out in US cinemas now. It will be released in UK cinemas on 19 April.