Bliss

Thirty-five years ago, I passed the point where drugs and alcohol brought me bliss and entered the hell of physical dependence without the payoff. I decided to stop, and every day clean felt like the pavement hitting me in the face. Eventually, the craziness of sanity was less than the craziness of intoxication, and reality became more normal than being high.

Anyone can do it, but most don't. They just like the fantasy more than life. My mother, two close friends, my cousins,, colleagues, etc. All stayed in the world of bliss until they died.

If you are using, stay here with the pain. Let it strip away from you the fantasy that is killing you. You deserve to live, and all you have to do is start where you are.

Now, about that movie. It's crap on a cracker, with the kind of mind-numbing insights people have when they are either newly sober or very, very stoned. There are better movies about addiction and mental illness, but what does it matter? If something in this movie gets through to you, use it as a way out. Get help.

The review title contains the two films that blew my mind as much as this one did.

This film explores and exploits the idea of the unreliable narrator to the maximum. It poses questions, answers them, but then takes away the answers.

It keeps the two far sides of the possibility so precisely balanced and strong, that you could tie a string in-between, and the tension would be literally palpable. The tension that keeps guessing and wondering the entire film, until the Very Last Second.

It is incredibly dystopian but also utopian at the same time, and you can't help but feel for the unluckiest guy in the world, who might know the absolute truth.

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.

Those who marketed this movie made a huge mistake. They gave a high expectation of a Syfy type movie. I watched this movie with exactly that in mind and it left me lost and confused. I really believe it's because of the lasting impression the marketing left on me.

It took me just about past the midway point of the movie I started to realize it wasn't about Syfy at all. It's about drug addiction, the mentally disabled, and homelessness. The moment I recognized this, I had a better impression of the movie. Having a career in LE in a city I experienced many with those difficulties. It's easy to criticize the homeless or dismiss them, but if you had a better understanding of the issues they're having mentally your feelings would change. And I think this movie did a good job putting the viewer inside the mind of an addict/mentally ill person. I only wish those in charge of the marketing would have done a better job.

With having a better understanding of the movie, the actors did a great job.

This is one of the best movies I've seen that shows an insight into addiction. It actually was very moving, and anyone who has experienced addiction personally or with a loved one, it likely will bring up many emotions. I would highly recommend this movie.