Bliss, a sci-fi romance now
streaming on Amazon Prime, will do as much to delight you as it will to confound
you. There is much to-do about crystals, alternate realities, simulations, and
a mysterious device called the Brain Box, but at the heart of this story is an
unlikely romance between a seemingly homeless woman named Isabel (Salma Hayek)
and the recently fired Greg (Owen Wilson). How they come together and what they
experience is often surreal and mesmerizing.
Greg works in a company and has a corner office. It is
made obvious that Greg has been slacking for some time based on the comments of
his fellow workers. When he is called in to see the boss and face the music,
Greg continues to work on sketches of a fantasy house and a beautiful woman standing
in a portico of that building. A phone call from his daughter Emily (Nesta
Cooper) barely registers in his mind as he keeps working on the drawings.
Eventually, Greg gets his act together and gathers his
things and goes in to see his boss Bjorn (Steve Zissus). Bjorn wastes little
time talking and goes right to the firing part of their conversation. Greg
makes an aggressive motion and Bjorn falls backwards, hits his head on his
desk, and kills himself. Greg is flustered but thinks clearly enough to hide
Bjorn’s body behind curtains and leans him against the window.
Greg quickly leaves telling people that he doesn’t know
where Bjorn is, and he rushes outside and across the street to a bar to drown
his fears in drink. Here he meets the lovely Isabel (Hayek plays the part
perfectly), who seems to know everything about him – including that he was just
fired and that his boss is dead. She points to the window in the building
across the street, where Greg can see Bjorn’s body against the window.
How did Isabel know about this? There is not much time to
think as the weight of Bjorn’s body against the window suddenly opens it, and
he falls a few stories down to the sidewalk. Greg’s co-workers who were outside
for a cigarette break witness this, and they immediately assume that Bjorn has
committed suicide.
Isabel convinces Greg to get out of there to avoid being
questioned by the police. Isabel says that he must lay low and not contact his
family, selling his phone in a pawn shop and some of Greg’s other possessions
to get some money.
She takes him to a tent area under a highway where she
lives, which has many amenities despite being a homeless camp, and they get to
talk and learn about each other’s lives. She shares a yellow crystal with him,
and it has powerful hallucinogenic powers and makes Greg think that he can move
objects and people with his hand.
Isabel says they need to get more crystals, and when they
go to buy them from her dealer Kendo (Ronny Chieng), Emily sees her father and
goes up to him. Emily gives a graduation photo to Greg – reminding him that he
missed that day – and puts her telephone number on the back. She begs him to
call her.
When Greg wakes up the next day, he sees that Isabel has
put up all his drawings under the tent. Greg then looks at Emily’s photo and
decides to call her from a phone booth. When he gets her answering machine,
Greg returns to the tent and Isabel explodes when she learns that he tried to
call Emily. She says that Emily is not real and that they are living in a
simulation.
Using a nasal device and some blue crystals, Isabel says
that they are going to be transported back to reality. Greg reluctantly goes
through with it, and when he wakes up, he finds himself hooked up to a giant
computer called the Brain Box. In this reality, Greg learns that he and Isabel
are respected researchers and scientists, and Isabel is responsible for
creating the Brain Box. It is used to explore various simulations, including
the one Greg thought was his life.
In this world they are a couple, and Isabel takes him
home to a place that is the fantasy house from his drawings. When she stands in
the doorway for a moment, Greg realizes that she is the woman in the picture
that he drew. Here they are wealthy, live in a lavish estate, and are well
respected scientists.
Greg still vividly remembers the simulation and his daughter
Emily, and this reality is vague to him, and he recalls very little of his life
as a famous scientist. When they attend a gala to celebrate Isabel’s work, Greg
encounters a ghost-like Emily, who begs him to come back to her. Greg must make
a choice – stay with Isabel in this idyllic place – or go back to what Isabel
says is a simulation and see his daughter again.
The rest is spoiler territory, but it is worth noting
that director Mike Cahill – who also wrote the screenplay – takes us through
the alternate realities in a compelling way, making either life Greg lives seem
rather credible. The cast is terrific, and this is no doubt Wilson’s most
impressive film role to date. He and Hayek have real chemistry, so much that when she says that they are a couple in the alternate reality, I had no trouble believing that.
Big questions are being asked here. Do
our dreams reflect another life we once lived? What things matter in our daily
lives? Are we who we think we are or who some other force wants us to be? Can
love keep us happy or does it tear us apart? And, most importantly, is the life
you live one that seems real or is it the reality we want to live?
Yes, all enormous thoughts to rattle around in our heads
while watching the film, but Cahill doesn’t leave us guessing in the end. We
get to see the story play out and conclude in a way that makes narrative sense for
what we have seen taking place, but we also may still have a lingering doubt in
our minds – a question or two that will never be answered.
Bliss is highly recommended, but it
is not for kids under 13. The implications of some of the story are way too
complex and could upset younger viewers.
As you watch Bliss you can’t help but think about
your own life and relationships, and you will start thinking about what matters
most to you. In the end, that’s the place where you will want to be, and isn't that what bliss is all about?
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