Bliss (2019) directed by Joe Begos

Synopsis:
Dezzy, a painter who can’t seem to finish the painting she promised for a gallery showing makes a desperate bid to reclaim her creative glory at all costs – in this case by spiraling quickly into a never-ending stream of cocaine cut with DMT (what the fuuuuuuuuuck – that sounds TERRIFYING), crazy sex, plenty of blood, and a couple of late-night fugues in which she discovers that she is painting her magnum opus.

My Thoughts:
This movie is fucking nuts. I mean that in the best possible way. It is alternately dark and pulsing, and the most beautiful shades of pink, purple and red. It is, in a nutshell, completely visually arresting. If the strobing didn’t make it so utterly uncomfortable to stare at for long periods of time, I don’t think I would have been able to look away.

I didn’t really like Dezzy as a character (although I begrudgingly respect her dedication to finding her artistic inspiration at great detriment to anyone and everyone), but I feel like Dora Madison played her perfectly. She is loud, tough, and messy – which is exactly what was called for, I think. She was a wonderfully imperfect protagonist.

Bliss is a bloody, pulsing, visceral brain-fuck of the highest order. Not for the faint of heart (or those prone to visually-induced seizures – seriously, there’s a warning). It’s sort of like Party Monster and The Lost Boys had a sexy demon baby.

And I was extremely happy to see George Wendt show up as Pops, a regular at Dezzy’s friend/coke supplier’s house. I’m not gonna lie, I might have mumbled, “Naaahm!” under my breath when he made his first appearance. Or maybe I shouted it – who can say? But really, I’m a huge Cheers fan, and I always loved the charmingly alcoholic, slightly terrible but still confusingly charming Norm, and I’ve never seen George Wendt do anything other than improve whatever he’s appeared in (I mean, come on – Fletch, Hart to Hart, amiright?).

Bliss is director Joe Begos’ 3rd feature length film, so while he’s still apparently newish to directing professionally, I don’t think that is at all negatively reflected in Bliss. It is as polished as something so intentionally jagged can be, and it certainly feels competently made. The specifics of the story are not readily apparent, but it feels intentionally vague rather than by accident – more like the audience is supposed to feel unnerved and unsure because Dezzy is.

There’s plenty of blood, and a fair amount of non-blood-identifying gore to be had here. There is also plenty of nudity. I actually looked up the film on IMDB, and nearly died looking at what passes for “Plot Keywords” there. I simply must share – it’s too monumentally ridiculous not to:

How bonker-balls is that? Who added these? And why did butts warrant two separate entries? In what universe, outside of a movie about butts is the presence of butts relevant? Isn’t their presence there kind of implied unless otherwise noted?

Sadly there is not yet an entry for Bliss on Common Sense Media, but I’ll be keeping an eye out. Their user reviews are some of the best you’ll find (think Amazon’s sugar free Haribo gummy bears kind of “best” here). There is one particular reviewer/soul saver who left a review of Midsommar that I think will be with me forever – I want the line ” Please don’t think I’m calling you sick if you watch this movie. I’m only asking that you be careful,” to be the tagline for Ari Aster’s next film.

One thing about this movie that I COULD NOT GET ENOUGH OF was the soundtrack. The music is done by Steve Moore, and is available for purchase through Relapse Records here. They already sold out of the “Neon Violet and Neon Orange Merge with Neon Yellow, Black, and Blood Red Splatter (it’s beautiful despite that ridonk-long name), so you’d be stuck with regular ol’ black vinyl, or CD if you want to live in the now (or, like the early 2000s?), but trust me – it’s a REALLY good soundtrack, so I’d vote that you get it while its hot in whatever your chosen format.

My Edition:

Standard edition Blu Ray
Special Features:
Commentary with Joe Begos and Dora Madison
Commentary with Joe Begos, Josh Ethier, and the Russell FX Team
One deleted scene (helpful to know what started it all, but ultimately unnecessary for the story)
Trailer
Teaser

Note: I haven’t watched with commentary yet. I probably should have before writing this, but… I didn’t. Sorry.

Rating:

I really liked this movie. My one qualm is that it is honestly a little difficult for me to watch. All of the strobing is just a little too much for my delicate little baby-eyeballs, apparently.

Bliss
Directed by: Joe Begos
Released September 27, 2019
Dark Sky Films
Horror
Not Rated
80 Minutes