Movies

Owen Wilson and Salma Hayek escape from reality in exclusive Bliss trailer

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Published on January 12, 2021 12:00PM EST

This month, EW is offering exclusive looks at more than two dozen of 2021's most anticipated movies. Check out more of our preview here.

Owen Wilson and Salma Hayek's latest movie is pure Bliss.

The actors star in the new mind-bender from writer-director Mike Cahill (Another Earth), and EW has a first look at the romantic sci-fi film with the exclusive trailer above. The preview teases some of the many twists and turns in store in Bliss, which is described as a love story, a father-daughter story, and a sci-fi tale about life in a simulation.

Wilson plays recent divorcée Greg, who embarks on a wild journey when he meets the mysterious Isabel (Hayek), a homeless woman who claims the world is a computer-generated illusion. As the trailer shows, Greg soon discovers there may be some truth to Isabel's theories.

This revelation alters Greg's worldview, freeing him from the weight of his guilt and responsibilities as he embraces the carefree thrill of the simulation. However, the old reality soon intrudes: Nesta Cooper (See) also stars as Greg's daughter Emily, who tries to pull him back to her version of reality, and who Isabel insists is not real. As Cahill notes, "This becomes the major dramatic tension of the film — whose version of reality is real, Isabel's or Emily's?"

"I wanted to tell a story about the fragility of the mind and the malleability of our perception," the director said in a statement. "I particularly wanted to make a film that treated different ways of seeing the world with compassion and empathy, as opposed to judgement. To me this is an important bridge of connection humans need and I felt like I had a way to dramatize this idea and make it fun, exciting, thrilling, all while retaining its emotional potency."