Wow. Definitely an interesting way to characterize the blurred realities caused by addiction. Great film!
A cross between Trainspotting and The Matrix, with more pill choices beyond the usual red and blue. Visually stylish and with great work by the leads, this is a good movie that ends on a high.
I think the main flaw of the movie is that it asks too much out of the viewer. You need to have an extensive knowledge of how delusions form and how drug addicts behave and rationalize, in order to follow the characters and not tune out because of the absurdism. THIS IS NOT A SCI-FI FILM.
It's clear from start to end that the movie is about drug addiction and drug-induced psychosis. His prescription bottle read Hydrocodone, an opioid used for pain relief. On the phone he talked to his daughter about his fake injuries. He crushed his last two pills and snorted them off-screen before leaving his office. Isabel slips him something in his drink when they first meet, that's when his bender begins (along with the "powers"). From then on, Isabel and Greg seem to experience a drug-induced shared psychosis (aka folie à deux).
One way that could explain the "glitches in the Matrix" is if we assume that the audience is not an objective observer but either a third party in this shared psychosis or simply an extension of Greg's deluded subconscious.
I initially watched this because it was labeled as science fiction. It's not science fiction. Not even remotely. It's a movie about a guy that gets fired and becomes homeless and is befriended by a woman who then does, presumably, crystal meth with him. Once you realize that you're watching a movie about how drug addicts supposedly see the world and themselves in that world it takes you for a completely different ride. The movie itself is not bad, not at all. But it's not even remotely what the trailer or marketing material made it out to be.
Well that was weird. I was hooked at the beginning, it looked promising but kind of trailed off with no definitive answers to anything. I found it captivating in parts and quite boring in others which left me feeling meh. So much potential with concept, narrative, characters and acting but felt like it was cut together all wrong.
This movie is not a sci-fi... This is a movie about drugs and addiction. The way it shows the road down is unique. Drug like diamonds, or shiny precious pills are the reality for those addicted to it. I think it is a great movie but do not sit down to watch it expecting a sci-fi or an action movie.
As an audience member I hate it when they don’t wrap things up for us ~ especially in mind altering or crazy films. I think it’s just lazy writing to not have a definitive ending.
Not at all what I expected and it took me for a wild ride. Not the best movie, but damn I liked the interesting concepts they threw around here especially with the two main characters. The better Matrix movie of this year.
Mind blown. I thought it was captivating and an interesting take on addiction and the lines between reality and the search for bliss. I can see where others find fault in it, but I thought it was very well done.
Stupid movie waste of time unless your on drugs.
I feel like you have to be high to understand this movie or at least in rehab. It was a good concept poor execution. What makes me even more upset is you have two strong actors that didn't seem to have any screen connection which in turn hurt the movie.
This movie makes me WANT to have a mental break. It makes me WANT to become a homeless bum that yells at clouds. To have my life and everything in it fall apart to the point my sanity nopes out and I go in to a dellusion. It looks so enticing, when viewed as this movie portrays it.
Wait....
Did people actually like this movie???
Well I can tell you one thing, I feel like I took a pill and don't know anymore which world I'm in. This movie really plays with your mind.
The concept was interesting but they didn't follow through with it. I was a bit disappointed.
THE BAD: ‘BLISS’
WRITING: 35
ACTING: 65
LOOK: 70
SOUND: 50
FEEL: 20
NOVELTY: 15
ENJOYMENT: 20
RE-WATCHABILITY: 10
INTRIGUE: 15
EXPECTATIONS: 15
The Good:
That opening scene, with its bleak colours and constantly tinging phones (not to mention Greg’s dismissive behaviour) made me so stressed out.
Simple but lively directing, editing and cinematography keep up a good flow even during less suspenseful moments.
I like how most of the intense moments in this film are sprinkled with just a hint of dark humour, making them exciting as much as shocking.
Owen Wilson and Salma Hayek work well together but it’s Hayek who draws he longer straw by fully embracing her mysterious and charming part.
The Bad:
Despite two fine performances from Wilson and Hayek, the characters themselves aren’t very engaging and say or do nothing to make us care for them
Greg and Isabel fall in love very quickly, but it doesn’t evoke any stronger emotions, since we don’t know them very well and we know Greg’s family even less. Most people surrounding our two leads remains underdeveloped and distant.
The script keeps teasing audiences with snippets of strange events to keep up the main mystery, but it never delves deeper into these things and consequently, it feels like the film forgets what it’s trying to achieve.
Most of the film feels like constant build-up and the script doesn’t arrive at answers or conclusions fast enough.
There are some similarities to The Matrix here, but unlike the 1999 classic, Bliss doesn’t do a very good job of creating and maintaining it’s science fiction premise or providing viewers with answers.
I came in expecting bigger sci-fi shenanigans, but the simulation is just an underused gimmick and a framing device for a strange and somewhat convoluted relationship drama.
What’s frustrating is how the film fails to answer the most prominent questions satisfyingly, and how the ecological message seems shoehorned in just to make the film stick with modern audiences.
I was hoping for stringer dramatic tension and more outreaching emotional content, but Bliss remains very emotionally shallow.
The Ugly:
Also known as Matrix: The Day the Blue Pills Ran Out.
VERDICT:
A bleak Matrix-ripoff that somehow manages to be too convoluted for its own good despite not having much of a plot at all.
32% = :x: = BAD
Underrated, it’s a great movie. I’m guessing much people watch it thinking is a sci-fi and that’s why the bad rating. Touching history.
Complete waste of time... might be better if I was on LSD or such.
0/10
I enjoyed it. The film explores a man's descent into addiction and detachment from reality after a trauma. Salma Hayek gives a really convincing performance as a paranoid, manipulative gaslighter. My only criticism is that it seems like the director can't decide whether he wants to make a Charlie Kaufman film or a David Lynch film, so it ends up feeling like a clumsy pastiche of both.
This was quite a movie to watch. Started watching it after taking a little break from a session on PS4. Launched Amazon Prime Video and this was there, in the home screen, a new movie. I said "why not!". I like Owen Wilson, I believe he deserves more credit than what is currently given to him. His acting skills in this movie are just great, though yes you still have his style in it (only the "wooow" is missing). Salma Hayek on the other hand is OK, does the job, but I feel that something is amiss in her acting - and no, not because she portrays an addicted person.
Now, to the movie. Photography is excellent, special effects also deserve kudos because they are well done and do not feel too fake (like, for example, in "The Ice Road"). At first I did not know what to make of this movie, did not watch the trailer so I really approached this with no knowledge or expectations at all. The story is OK, they build it up, and you think is going where you think is going, but then you are left with an ending that is open to interpretation. For example, were all those people really killed? If not, why was the police after them? The movie wraps it up without much happening towards the development of the story, and I feel that overall the structure of it is: slow start, surprise, build up, build up, plateau, plateau, wrap without really conclusion/answers.
So yeah, interesting movie, I wish they provided the ending it deserved.
the concept was interesting but Salma Hayek’s acting sucks so much!! it was really hard to watch until the end…
Bores you till your defenses are down and you are susceptible to believe anything it shows you.
It starts with the voice on the phone asking for all the numbers in the prescription barcode including the ones after the dash and then watching him type them in and then listening to the voice reading them all back to confirm, and then reading them all back again and saying the prescription does not exist. After your brain dies, the movie takes over your mind!
Boring, waste of time , in Flemisch "trekt op geen fluit"
That was interesting, very deep and trippy also mind blowing.. good show from all cast.
Utter rubbish. Waste of time.
Not clever, not well-written. Insufficient ambiguity. It was well acted, but that is the only nice thing I can say about it.
Metaphoric movie but not well made and played.
This is literally very crazy.
This movie can be explained in One word "Boring"
I really don't know what to think. I don't like either world or either choice of life very much. The utopia isn't and the bliss isn't either.
Shout by dnztBlockedParent2021-02-13T07:18:12Z
Well, don't do drugs!