Bliss

Bliss est un film pour lequel je souhaiterais pouvoir retirer la piste des dialogues et n’entendre que les autres sons et la musique. Parce que devoir se farcir du début à la fin tous les « fucks » et autres plaintes de « l’héroïne » principale – certes jolie, mais aussi extrêmement antipathique – (Dora Madison) commence rapidement à nous taper sur le système. Et c’est sans parler du fait que, à part son escapade nocturne, il ne se passe pas grand-chose. Pour moi, c’est juste un feu d’artifice gore dont la stylisation bariolée combinée à un niveau absurde de violence et des rivières de sang a de quoi combler les attentes horrifiques, mais demande de débrancher son cerveau vite fait. (20/02/2020)

Joe Begos hasn't disappointed me so far and after Almost Human and The Mind's Eye he serves up, Bliss, his most brutal work, which many viewers won't accept, but I liked it. The story revolves around a painter who likes to do drugs (big time!) while painting, but once her friend gets her sick, she gets a bigger taste for blood and literally makes Los Angeles her buffet. A hallucinogenic, dreamy, erotic vampire movie full of drugs, nudity, flashing lights and hectoliters of blood. Intense as fuck horror that must be uncomfortable for normal individuals to watch, but I enjoyed the film. The highlight then is a half-naked Dora in a thong dancing covered in blood in front of her painting. For a fringe audience only. 75% (08/10/2019)

I must admit that, considering what he was trying to do, Joe Begos did a good job. But this film isn’t for me. It lost me at the beginning, and by the time things were improving in the second half into a fairly intensive carnage, I was already numb. Following with interest this sort of drugged-up cow (the main heroine) is something I’m unable to do. Gaspar Noé, mentioned by other users, at least is able to give interesting shapes to his drugged-up girls, and I have a lot of fun with his films, but Begos’s new film is simply awful. A style that I find disgusting and doesn’t tell me anything. (04/10/2019)

Like all heavy-metal horror movies that are taken seriously, this wonderfully shot and stylishly engaging spectacle is also very ridiculous. Fortunately, unlike The Devil’s Candy in many respects, ridicule can be a part of an intense viewing experience in every aspect. The self-regarding myth of the troubled artist and her epic vision is interwoven with the hyper-stimulating antithesis of Only Lovers Left Alive and a dully superficial variation on Abel Ferrara’s The Addiction, which as a whole is alternately annoying and likable. But just when you get over the unbearableness of the main character and the ethos of the entire work connected with it, Bliss can be a fun ride even if you are not part of the obvious target audience, which the film will take as confirmation of its own exceptionalism and status of being misunderstood. Black Panther would say “evacuate all logic, engage all senses and next time get this man a proper screenplay,” because director Joe Begos is obviously an outstanding filmmaker who should finally stop copying his favorite models, though he does that staggeringly well. (05/01/2020)