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Bliss (2021)

 Bliss (2021)
type
TVTItem
 Bliss (2021)
label
Bliss (2021)
 Bliss (2021)
page
Bliss2021
 Bliss (2021)
comment
Bliss is a 2021 Sci-Fi Thriller film written and directed by Mike Cahill, and produced by Amazon Studios.Greg (Owen Wilson) is a divorcee with a boring job in tech support and an ambiguous disorder that he's on medication for. One day his crappy life gets even worse when he accidentally kills his boss while in the process of being fired. In a panic, he hides the body and flees to a bar across the street. There he's accosted by Isabel (Salma Hayek), a homeless woman who claims that she and Greg are some of the very few people who are "real," and that she feels responsible for the situation since she's the reason why this world exists in the first place. She then seems to lend some credence to the claim by using some form of telekinetic powers to make it seem like Greg's boss jumped from a window, clearing Greg of any potential suspicion.Soon, Greg is pulled into Isabel's strange reality, and half-convinced that she's in fact his wife from another, more real life that he can't remember. Meanwhile, though, Greg's daughter Emily is concerned that her father seems to have dropped off the face of the Earth and is searching for him.
 Bliss (2021)
fetched
2023-10-30T20:00:33Z
 Bliss (2021)
parsed
2023-10-30T20:00:33Z
 Bliss (2021)
processingComment
Dropped link to TheMentallyIll: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
 Bliss (2021)
processingComment
Dropped link to Utopia: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Bliss (2021)
processingUnknown
TheMentallyIll
 Bliss (2021)
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Bliss (2021) / int_1009aa84
type
UnreliableExposition
 Bliss (2021) / int_1009aa84
comment
Unreliable Exposition: Isabel claims to have all the answers, but her answers may be entirely imaginary. Towards the end, she admits that she isn't sure herself how things work and that she can't quite keep track of what's real and what's not.
 Bliss (2021) / int_1009aa84
featureApplicability
1.0
 Bliss (2021) / int_1009aa84
featureConfidence
1.0
 Bliss (2021)
hasFeature
Bliss (2021) / int_1009aa84
 Bliss (2021) / int_1e1aa82a
type
Diabolus ex Machina
 Bliss (2021) / int_1e1aa82a
comment
Diabolus ex Machina: Greg commits accidental manslaughter by getting up from his chair too suddenly, causing his boss to recoil in surprise and fall and hit his head against his desk. Since the boss later shows up alive, this may be an early hint that what we're seeing isn't necessarily real.
 Bliss (2021) / int_1e1aa82a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Bliss (2021) / int_1e1aa82a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Bliss (2021)
hasFeature
Bliss (2021) / int_1e1aa82a
 Bliss (2021) / int_46290b93
type
Manic Pixie Dream Girl
 Bliss (2021) / int_46290b93
comment
Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Isabel is a dark example. She makes it her mission to save Greg from his soul-destroying life, but the life she offers to replace it might be just a drug-fuelled delusion. Or not.
 Bliss (2021) / int_46290b93
featureApplicability
1.0
 Bliss (2021) / int_46290b93
featureConfidence
1.0
 Bliss (2021)
hasFeature
Bliss (2021) / int_46290b93
 Bliss (2021) / int_5541da8c
type
Lotus-Eater Machine
 Bliss (2021) / int_5541da8c
comment
Lotus-Eater Machine: Inverted. The Brain Box is meant to create a fictional life that's less appealing than reality, to make people appreciate what they have more.
 Bliss (2021) / int_5541da8c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Bliss (2021) / int_5541da8c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Bliss (2021)
hasFeature
Bliss (2021) / int_5541da8c
 Bliss (2021) / int_5874eb12
type
Organic Technology
 Bliss (2021) / int_5874eb12
comment
Organic Technology: The Brain Box is... a box with a bunch of brains floating in it, with wires going out of it that ends in some sort of organic-looking strings that go up the users' noses.
 Bliss (2021) / int_5874eb12
featureApplicability
1.0
 Bliss (2021) / int_5874eb12
featureConfidence
1.0
 Bliss (2021)
hasFeature
Bliss (2021) / int_5874eb12
 Bliss (2021) / int_5d5cc3fd
type
Through the Eyes of Madness
 Bliss (2021) / int_5d5cc3fd
comment
Through the Eyes of Madness: It's implied that much of what we see takes place only in Greg's mind.
 Bliss (2021) / int_5d5cc3fd
featureApplicability
1.0
 Bliss (2021) / int_5d5cc3fd
featureConfidence
1.0
 Bliss (2021)
hasFeature
Bliss (2021) / int_5d5cc3fd
 Bliss (2021) / int_6439de78
type
Heroic Sacrifice
 Bliss (2021) / int_6439de78
comment
Heroic Sacrifice: At the end, though whether it's Greg or Isabel who sacrifices themself for the other depends on which version of the story you believe. If the present-day world is the illusion, then Greg chooses to stay in it so that Isabel can return home. If it is the future world, then Isabel draws the attention of the police before killing herself, giving Greg the chance to escape.
 Bliss (2021) / int_6439de78
featureApplicability
1.0
 Bliss (2021) / int_6439de78
featureConfidence
1.0
 Bliss (2021)
hasFeature
Bliss (2021) / int_6439de78
 Bliss (2021) / int_78be795b
type
Changeling Fantasy
 Bliss (2021) / int_78be795b
comment
Changeling Fantasy: Inside the Brain Box, Greg is an office drone with a divorce behind him and a son who won't talk to him. His possibly-real life outside of it is a respected scientist in a future utopia with a beautiful, accomplished wife.
 Bliss (2021) / int_78be795b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Bliss (2021) / int_78be795b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Bliss (2021)
hasFeature
Bliss (2021) / int_78be795b
 Bliss (2021) / int_a0472bcc
type
Phlebotinum Pills
 Bliss (2021) / int_a0472bcc
comment
Phlebotinum Pills: Two kinds: the yellow pills grant supernatural powers within the Brain Box, while the blue ones disconnects you from it and returns you to the real world. Or so it seems. They are probably just two different strengths of hallucinogens.
 Bliss (2021) / int_a0472bcc
featureApplicability
1.0
 Bliss (2021) / int_a0472bcc
featureConfidence
1.0
 Bliss (2021)
hasFeature
Bliss (2021) / int_a0472bcc
 Bliss (2021) / int_a7129d3b
type
First World Problems
 Bliss (2021) / int_a7129d3b
comment
First World Problems: The future is so idyllic that people have no concept of what a real problem is. Before entering the Brain Box, Greg considered it a serious hardship that his pool wasn't warm enough.
 Bliss (2021) / int_a7129d3b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Bliss (2021) / int_a7129d3b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Bliss (2021)
hasFeature
Bliss (2021) / int_a7129d3b
 Bliss (2021) / int_add931af
type
I Choose to Stay
 Bliss (2021) / int_add931af
comment
I Choose to Stay: Greg ultimately decides that he prefers the Brain Box world to reality, since it's more exciting and unpredictable. Or possibly that is him deciding that he wants to live.
 Bliss (2021) / int_add931af
featureApplicability
1.0
 Bliss (2021) / int_add931af
featureConfidence
1.0
 Bliss (2021)
hasFeature
Bliss (2021) / int_add931af
 Bliss (2021) / int_bb9e6960
type
Non-Player Character
 Bliss (2021) / int_bb9e6960
comment
Non-Player Character: Most people in the mundane world are this, according to Isabel.
 Bliss (2021) / int_bb9e6960
featureApplicability
1.0
 Bliss (2021) / int_bb9e6960
featureConfidence
1.0
 Bliss (2021)
hasFeature
Bliss (2021) / int_bb9e6960
 Bliss (2021) / int_cb70651c
type
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane
 Bliss (2021) / int_cb70651c
comment
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Leaning heavily towards "mundane" with the sci-fi elements heavily implied to be the product of mental illness and hallucinogenic drugs. On the other hand, there are some details that aren't so easily explained, such as the wallet on Greg's desk that starts "glitching" after he's left the room.
 Bliss (2021) / int_cb70651c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Bliss (2021) / int_cb70651c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Bliss (2021)
hasFeature
Bliss (2021) / int_cb70651c
 Bliss (2021) / int_ec0ce986
type
Spotting the Thread
 Bliss (2021) / int_ec0ce986
comment
Spotting the Thread: Towards the end, Greg starts doubting Isabel and telling her that it sounds a lot like she's making the "truth" up as she goes along.
 Bliss (2021) / int_ec0ce986
featureApplicability
1.0
 Bliss (2021) / int_ec0ce986
featureConfidence
1.0
 Bliss (2021)
hasFeature
Bliss (2021) / int_ec0ce986
 Bliss (2021) / int_ec9a5f50
type
Deconstructed Character Archetype
 Bliss (2021) / int_ec9a5f50
comment
Deconstructed Character Archetype: Isabel behaves very much like the character in a Changeling Fantasy whose job it is to drag the protagonist off to adventure, all while spouting cryptic hints and acting impatient that he doesn't already know this stuff. However, in her case it seems likely that she's contradicting his notions of reality because she's actually out of touch with reality, that the reason why her exposition is so spotty and mysterious is that she's actually making it up as she goes along, and that the impatience serves to bully Greg along and keep him from questioning things too much.
 Bliss (2021) / int_ec9a5f50
featureApplicability
1.0
 Bliss (2021) / int_ec9a5f50
featureConfidence
1.0
 Bliss (2021)
hasFeature
Bliss (2021) / int_ec9a5f50
 Bliss (2021) / int_f1e837cc
type
Mind over Matter
 Bliss (2021) / int_f1e837cc
comment
Mind over Matter: When using the yellow crystals, Greg and Isabel can fling "non-real" people around with a gesture. At one point, Greg even lifts a car and crushes it with his mind.
 Bliss (2021) / int_f1e837cc
featureApplicability
1.0
 Bliss (2021) / int_f1e837cc
featureConfidence
1.0
 Bliss (2021)
hasFeature
Bliss (2021) / int_f1e837cc
 Bliss (2021) / int_name
type
ItemName
 Bliss (2021) / int_name
comment
 Bliss (2021) / int_name
featureApplicability
1.0
 Bliss (2021) / int_name
featureConfidence
1.0
 Bliss (2021)
hasFeature
Bliss (2021) / int_name
 Bliss (2021) / int_name
itemName
Bliss (2021)

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Bliss (2021)
hasFeature
Films of the 2020s / int_73a67b42
 Bliss (2021)
hasFeature
Unreliable Expositor / int_73a67b42