⭐2/10⭐
The beginning of Bliss (2021) is fairly promising, with a sudden Matrix-esque jump into sci-fi action. Overdone, maybe. But done well? Acceptable.
Spoiler alerts.
Greg Wittle (Owen Wilson) works in IT, and is fired because he’s.. spacey and automation is taking over the world? The full reason is unclear, but he finds himself in sudden danger when he inadvertently kills his boss and flees into the bar across the street.
Here he meets a mysterious woman clad in some sort of boho punk getup (Salma Hayek). She tells him they are the only two who are real, and convinces him quickly that their world is nothing but a simulation. Her argument? Small magic crystals that let you manipulate reality. Greg is convinced, and the two go off on an adventure beginning in a homeless camp that lasts days or weeks or perhaps months. The timeline becomes increasingly blurrier as the film progresses.
After an argument, she takes him back to “the real world” with the use of another special crystal and it’s there that her blissful world, where she is an esteemed researcher, begins to blend with their other world of homelessness, 9-5s, and magic crystals.
I won’t spoil the ending, but despite an honestly wonderful cast (Bill Nye makes several appearances), this film sucks.
The storyline becomes confusing to follow despite heavy handed foreshadowing, and as we witness Greg’s mental decline both worlds become unsettling and wrong.
The film tries desperately to both uplift and condemn automation and technology (ironic for Amazon), while trying to humanize addiction and yet ultimately failing to convey its harsh reality.
The writers really thought they had something, but the only thing that stuck out about this film was its lack of profundity.
The Midnight Review 