Bliss: Em Busca da Felicidade

This film has so many interesting ideas but i found that it doesn't really follow all of them though.

I'm pretty confused at the low score and how badly it is being panned by critics.

I thought the acting was pretty good and i was really interested in these characters. Which is where i think some of the issue are found.

I think this film needed to take a step back from the sci-fi elements. They are very sparse but are there enough to hinder the true storyline. If i am being honest i think the whole 2nd act needed retooling. It was like a brick wall that the movie just slammed into. And then it just sort of slogged along. Once again i thought 'oh this is interesting' but then it just like stalled and i sat around thinking what is this movie now. It kind of gets its momentum back in the 3rd act but i think the 1st is where this movie shines.

This movie is also great at visual storytelling. The production design, costuming and make up all work so well. It allows you to understand what the film is trying to say before the film explicitly tells you and i though that was really good.

I honestly think this movie could have been great but it just got its self bogged down with the sci-fi part and trying to trick? the audience.

I think it held its cards too close to its chest but i think the twist is blatantly clear from literally the first scene. This isn't a bad thing at all. I think it would have been better letting us view this world though the lens of us knowing twist from the beginning. I think that would have been a much more interesting and very eye opening character and subject study.

Mike Cahill never seems to disappoint me so far. All of his works are very creative and thought-provoking. This film is a truly awesome exploration of the human mind just like Enemy (2013) was, which is also an underappreciated and misunderstood film. There are at least 3 ways to interpret this film of what is real and what is fake, there are tons of hidden details which give hints. There's also tons of funny references to popular culture and some multiple-meaning themes as well. I say this is some fresh air in comparison to all the mindless films we get nowadays.

Whatever impression the trailers or your film guide have given you - this movie is not a Sci-Fi movie - its a simple story about how a man can simply drop out of society because of things happening outside his control, and the challenges faced by homeless addicts with with mental health issues, top acting and a decent story and far better than a lot of the dross that has been unleashed on a disappointed public during the pandemic.

Another creative wonder by Mike Cahill. Unless someone fully understands, or has/had addiction and/or mental health issues, this film may be confusing.

I like how Cahill thinks out of the box, and the way this story was portrayed, was genius, albeit flawed. His screenplay was somewhat all over the place, sloppy, and did have some plot and technical issues. The story didn't flow and transition as well as it could have, like it did in his earlier film, Another Earth. Although the pacing was slightly better in this one, it still needed improvement and less filler for the 103 min runtime. For me, this film missed the mark and had much more potential than what I saw. Owen Wilson and Salma Hayek were great in their roles, as were the rest of the cast.

It's a different film, but once you get what's going on, you'll appreciate it a little more. It's a decent one-time watch. So it's a 7/10 from me.

This film is marketed as a sci-fi, altered reality adventure. It isn't. "Bliss" is a drug-induced hallucination from the perspective of a man who has lost touch with reality and fallen in love with an enabler. This is his struggle to regain his sobriety and reconnect with his estranged daughter. The film is a bit messy and the acting is simply passable... However, it is fresh and inventive, and it moves along swiftly.