Bliss (2021) Movie review | sci-fi drama ft. Salma Hayek, Owen Wilson

MOVIES An unfulfilled man (Owen Wilson) and a mysterious woman (Salma Hayek) believe they are living in a simulated reality, but when their newfound "Bliss" world begins to bleed into the "ugly" world they must decide what’s real and where they truly belong.

Read the full review of this The Matrix inspired sci-fi drama in this post!

Official movie trailer.
You can watch the whole film on Amazon Prime (UK link | DE/EU link).

The Plot

It is quite hard to explain what the movie is about without spoiling too much of the experience if you yet haven't seen it, but I'll give it a try and only talk loosely about the first 1/4 or so of the movie, which should give you a good idea what to expect from it.

In Bliss, Owen Wilson plays an office worker named Greg, whose life is starting to fall apart pretty badly. It takes place in a bleak, broken down, depressing city. In a bar across the street from his office, Greg meets a mysterious woman called Isabel, played by Salma Hayek. She tries convincing him that world they are experiencing is just a simulation, where most of its objects and inhabitants aren't even real and can be manipulated with weird telekinesis. She also tells him that in the real world, the two are actually a couple.

This premise takes the movie off for a mind-bending trip where you don't really know what is real and what isn't.

Boy meets girl...

Enter The Matrix

The movie makes a couple of nods to The Matrix, where instead of red and blue pills, we get yellow and blu crystals, that affect Wilson and Hayek's characters in different ways. The split between two "realities" are also prevalent here. The Matrix lets you know right away, what is reality and what is simulated. Bliss, on the other hand, leaves you in the dark, confused as to what to believe and not. So the movie is quite ideal for interesting conversations and discussions afterwards.

It's also a movie you could re-watch and potentially find new things you didn't notice on the first round. Whilst being thought-provoking, it still manages to keep the plot understandable where many other sci-fi movies of this kind, often tend to get a bit too intricate and convoluted to be enjoyed fully. Instead, I actually found this movie highly enjoyable, start to finish and didn't feel like I had to over-think things while watching it. But since the movie does leave you off with a lot of things that are open for one's own interpretation, it really got me intrigued to start analysing more deeply what really went on in the movie and to find out what other people made out of it.

When a movie manages to stay in your head, full of curiosity and afterthought, something has been done right. These are usually the type of movies I find most rewarding to watching, and Bliss is certainly no exception.

Greg is a good artist.

The differences between the two "realities" are also contrasted well, in terms of photography. The "ugly" world has desaturated, cold colour and a lot of grain, while the "bliss" world has an overall smoother presentation with warmer colours and a lot of sun glare. Classic cinematography and it works well to set the tone of the scenes.

No action flick

While having some common themes with The Matrix and such, Bliss is certainly not an action movie. It's more of a twisted love story, with a bit of conspiracy thriller, and sci-fi elements mixed in. I noticed the film had some pretty mediocre scores online, and while I can't say for sure why that is, I can guess that people perhaps had other expectations. On iMDB, the film is tagged with the genres drama, romance, sci-fi. In that order. It has a lot of the intricacy and though-provoking sensibility we've experienced in the more drama focused episodes of Black Mirror, and if that is your cup of tea, you'll likely be pleased with Bliss. If you're more into breakneck, fast action, the pacing might be a tad slow for you. It kept my fullest attention all along, though, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Salma Hayek carries the movie greatly with her interesting, mystic character. It's also nice to see Owen Wilson in something other than the typical comedy roles he's usually cast for. The film gets my fullest recommendation!

Watch Bliss on Amazon Prime (US)

International sites: UK link | DE/EU link