BLISS

★★★

OUT NOW (PRIME VIDEO) / CERT 15 / 103 MINS

DIRECTOR Mike Cahill

CAST Owen Wilson, Salma Hayek

The ‘brain-in-a-vat’ thought experiment, which has fascinated filmmakers from the Wachowskis (The Matrix) to Paul Verhoeven (Total Recall), gets a literal take in this new sci-fi from Another Earth director Mike Cahill. Owen Wilson — in a rare dramatic role, full of bemused, saucereyed wonder — is a kind of neo-neo, forced to wake up from the grey drudgery of his desk-job reality and see the world for what it really is, while Salma Hayek — on fiery form — is this film’s Morpheus, albeit one who lives under a bridge. There are interesting ideas being thrown around here, including some intriguing musings on what happens to the world when it all goes so right. But it’s hard to shake the feeling that you can totally recall this all being done before.