Bliss (2019)
Directed by Joe Begos
In need of creative inspiration, a professionally stagnant and hard-partying Los Angeles artist recklessly indulges in a series of drug binges. As the narcotics fly out of control, so does her newfound and inexplicable, yet unquenchable, craving for blood.
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4 films that influenced Bliss
What critics say influenced Bliss
But how does it stack up to SCANNERS’ most infamous sequence?
But he may have outdone the Gallic sensationalist with his third feature, which actually does the piling-druggy-excess-upon-excess thing better than Noé’s own psychotropic nightmares “Enter the Void” and “Climax.”
I guess, by this point of the 21st century, it’s become some kind of formula: a minestrone of sex-drugs-booze-clubbing excesses, linked to aggressive punk rock music and “romantic” (I use the word advisedly) outpourings of art onto a canvas, with horror/supernatural elements (as in the woeful 2018 Suspiria remake), a “long day’s journey into night” plot structure (here, a whole weekend of nights), strobe effects (there’s a medical warning upfront, like in Ken Jacobs’ avant-garde extravaganzas), garish colour scheme in 16mm, and all shot in the “you are right there”/camera-harnessed-to-body, headlong manner of Gaspar Noé (Climax [2018], Enter the Void [2009]) and the Safdie siblings (Good Time [2017], Uncut Gems [2019]).
THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL’s John Speredakos exudes menace as the evil Dr. Slovak (whose surname is reminiscent of Cronenberg monikers like Revok and Convex), and he’s supported ably by heavies that include THE BATTERY’s Jeremy Gardner and an eye patch-sporting Noah Segan (LOOPER, STARRY EYES).
It replicates the best moments of films like Green Room or Mandy but through Begos distinct lo-fi and street level lens, this is a truly unique and stand out effort of the bloodsucker genre.