''Bliss'' is a 2017 Filipino

psychological thriller film thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and convention, it ...

written, directed, edited and scored by

Jerrold Tarog Jerrold Viacrucis Tarog (; born May 30, 1977) is a Filipinos, Filipino film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, and composer. He is best known for directing ''Heneral Luna'' (2015), ''Bliss (2017 film), Bliss'' (2017) and ''Goyo: The Boy ...

. It stars

Iza Calzado Maria Izadora Ussher Calzado-Wintle (born August 12, 1982) is a Filipino actress. Known for her roles in blockbusters and independent films, particularly drama, psychological thriller and horror, she has received a selection of accolades, in ...

Ian Veneracion Stephen Ian Lopez Veneracion (; born February 7, 1975) is a Filipino actor and singer. Career His career started in 1982 as first appeared in RPN 9's show, ''Joey and Son''. in 1986, Veneracion joined GMA Network's '' That's Entertainment'', h ...

TJ Trinidad Raul "TJ" Fenstad Trinidad Jr. (born January 22, 1976) is a Filipino actor and businessman. Early life Trindad graduated high school from Colegio de San Agustin and studied marketing at De La Salle University. As a student, Trinidad joined ...

Michael de Mesa Michael Edward Gil Eigenmann (; born May 24, 1960), known professionally as Michael de Mesa (), is a Filipino actor and director. Early life Born as Michael Edward Gil Eigenmann to performer Eddie Mesa and actress Rosemarie Gil, he and his si ...

, and Adrienne Vergara. The film competed in Japan at the 12th Osaka Asian Film Festival in March 2017 to critical acclaim, where Calzado also garnered the Yakushi Pearl Award for Best Performer. The film premiered in the Philippines on May 10. ''Bliss'' explores elements of a

film within a film A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes ...

narrative where the protagonist also plays the lead.

Synopsis

Jane Ciego (

), a successful actress, produces her own film to gain respect from the industry. During the film production, an accident leaves her disabled. She is left in a secluded house to avoid more attention from the press, under the care and supervision of her husband, Carlo (

) and a cruel, unusual nurse named Lilibeth (Adrienne Vergara). Trapped in her own home, as she experiences horrors she questions her sanity.

Cast

as Jane Ciego *

as Joshua *

as Carlo *Adrienne Vergara as Lilibeth * Shamaine Buencamino as Jillian *Audie Gemora as Lexter Palao *

Stephanie Sol Stephanie Sol (born January 22, 1990) is a Filipina actress. She is known for her roles as Abby Reyes-Luna in '' The Rich Man's Daughter'' and Belle Acosta in ''More Than Words''. She is currently under contract with GMA Artist Center of GMA. ...

*Star Orjaliza *Kakki Teodoro as female reporter

Production

Director

pitch (filmmaking), pitched the idea for ''Bliss''which composed of five storiesright after the Philippine commercial release of ''

Heneral Luna ''Heneral Luna'' () is a 2015 Filipino epic war film starring John Arcilla as the titular character Antonio Luna who led the Philippine Revolutionary Army during the early phases of the Philippine–American War. Directed by Jerrold Tarog and ...

'', a film that he also directed. His first choice for the lead role had been

Anne Curtis Anne Curtis-Smith (; born 17 February 1985) is an Australian-born Filipino actress, television host, entrepreneur and model. Known for her versatile work in film and television productions, she is one of the most successful and highest-paid Fi ...

but the latter turned it down. After auditioning several actresses, the role eventually went to Iza Calzado. Tarog took roughly three to four months to write the screenplay. He credited foreign films such as

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoun ...

's ''

Persona A persona (plural personae or personas) is a strategic mask of identity in public, the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. It is also considered "an intermediary ...

'', '' Misery'', and anything by Japanese director

Satoshi Kon was a Japanese film director, animator, screenwriter and manga artist from Sapporo, Hokkaido, and a member of the Japanese Animation Creators Association (JAniCA). He was a graduate of the Graphic Design department of the Musashino Art Univer ...

most notably his films ''

Perfect Blue is a 1997 Japanese animated psychological thriller film directed by Satoshi Kon. It is loosely based on the novel by Yoshikazu Takeuchi, with a screenplay by Sadayuki Murai. Featuring the voices of Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shiho Niiya ...

'' (1997) and ''

Millennium Actress is a 2001 Japanese animated drama film co-written and directed by Satoshi Kon and produced by Madhouse. Loosely based on the lives of actresses Setsuko Hara and Hideko Takamine, it tells the story of two documentary filmmakers investigating ...

'' (2001)as inspirations in crafting the film. Tarog scored the film for about three weeks.

Marketing

''Bliss'' teaser trailer was released by February 2017, followed by an official trailer the following month.

Release

''Bliss'' first premiered in Japan, as an entry to the 12th Osaka Asian Film Festival held from March 3 to 12, 2017. The film was well received during its run at the festival. Accordingly, the festival awarded Iza Calzado the Yakushi Pearl Award for Best Performer award which she accepted on March 11. In the Philippines, the film was originally rated " X" by the

Movie and Television Review and Classification Board The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB; ; is a Philippine government agency under the Office of the President of the Philippines that is responsible for the classification and review of television programs, motion p ...

due to its depiction of excessive nudity and violence, and

masturbation Masturbation is a form of autoeroticism in which a person Sexual stimulation, sexually stimulates their own Sex organ, genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. Stimulation may involve the use of han ...

, deeming it unsuitable for public consumption. One of the board members noted the nudity to be "gratuitous". The producers held a special free screening of the uncut version at the Cine Adarna in the

University of the Philippines Diliman The University of the Philippines Diliman (also called UPD; ), also referred to as UP Diliman, is a State university and college (Philippines), public, coeducational, Research university, research university located in Diliman, Quezon City, Ph ...

, Quezon City on April 3, 2017. On April 5, Tarog confirmed through his

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

profile that the film had been reevaluated to an " R-18" rating without cuts.

Reception

Oggs Cruz of

CNN Philippines CNN Philippines (abbreviated sometimes as CNN PH) was a Philippine free-to-air television network owned and operated by Nine Media Corporation, together with Radio Philippines Network (RPN), under a license from Warner Bros. Discovery Asia-Pa ...

called it "...a well-crafted film, one that even outshines ''

'' in terms of consistency, and heck, even ambition." He concluded that ''Bliss'' is a film "whose pleasures aren’t immediate. It isn’t as emotionally rousing as ''Heneral Luna'' or ''

Sana Dati ''Sana Dati'' () is a 2013 Philippine romantic drama film written, directed, edited, and scored by Jerrold Tarog. The film stars Lovi Poe and Paulo Avelino. It is the final installment to Tarog's ''Camera trilogy'' which include ''Confessional'' ...

'', whose themes of nationalism or romantic love, respectively, are things that provoke effortlessly. ''Bliss'' seems to be more cerebral, a work that forces its viewers to think before they feel." Rose Carmelle Lacuata of

ABS-CBN News ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs, known on-air as ABS-CBN News (formerly known as ''ABS-CBN News and Public Affairs''), is the news and current affairs division of the Philippine media conglomerate ABS-CBN Corporation. The division is the coun ...

said that Iza Calzado's performance "...was able to effectively play the role of an actress trapped in her own world. It is not surprising that she was given the Yakushi Pearl Award for Best Performer in the 2017 Osaka Asian Film Festival." Jam Pascual of ''

The Philippine Star ''The Philippine Star'' (self-styled ''The Philippine STAR'') is an English-language newspaper in the Philippines and the flagship brand of the Philstar Media Group. First published on July 28, 1986, by veteran journalists Betty Go-Belmonte, ...

''s "Young Star" column said "''Bliss'' is a brainy change of pace ... e artistic merits of the film alone should be enough to validate this film's existence both Iza alzadoand Adrienne ergarashine in their roles, with the latter so terrifying she makes the maid from ''

Get Out ''Get Out'' is a 2017 American psychological horror film written, co-produced, and directed by Jordan Peele in his directorial debut. It stars Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Lil Rel Howery, LaKeith Stanfield, Bradley Whitford, Caleb ...

'' look like

Winnie the Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh (also known as Edward Bear, Pooh Bear or simply Pooh) is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared by ...

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Jerrold Tarog 2017 films Films directed by Jerrold Tarog Philippine New Wave Philippine psychological thriller films 2017 psychological thriller films 2010s Tagalog-language films Philippine LGBTQ-related films 2010s English-language films 2017 LGBTQ-related films TBA Studios films Lesbian vampire media English-language thriller films