BLINK TWICE
(director/writer: Zoë Kravitz; screenwriter: E.T. Feigenbaum; cinematographer: Adam Newport-Berra; editor: Kathryn J. Schubert; music: Chanda Dancy; cast: Naomi Ackie (Frida), Channing Tatum (Slater King), Alia Shawkat (Jess), Simon Rex (Cody), Haley Joel Osment (Tom), Christian Slater (Vic), Adria Arjona (Sarah), Kyle MacLachlan (Rich), Geena Davis (Stacy), Liz Caribel (Camilla), Trew Mullen (Heather), Levon Hawke (Lucas); Runtime: 103; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Bruce Cohen, Zoë Kravitz, Garret Levitz, Channing Tatum, Tiffany Persons; Amazon MGM Studios; 2024)
“Spreads itself too thin to fully delve into all the subjects it exploits.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
For her directorial debut the actress turned director Zoë Kravitz directs and co-writes with E.T. Feigenbaum this visually splendid satire on privilege that blurs the lines between reality and fantasy. It’s a chic #Metoo thriller, that has echoes of Get Out. It draws inspiration from the headlines of the private island inhabited by the infamous Jeffrey Epstein.
The ambitious, provocative and well-crafted film is about excess. It suffers only from its own excesses. It covers many subjects that include obsession, misogyny and empowerment, but spreads itself too thin to fully delve into all the subjects it exploits.
The 30-something Frida (Naomi Ackie) dreams of living a glamorous lifestyle, who works as a cocktail waitress for a caterer. On Instagram, she finds it difficult to lure followers to her nail design account. But she lucks out when she and her cynical best friend roommate Jess (Alia Shawkat) are servers at a ritzy charity gala and they hook up with the phony apologetic disgraced tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum), funding the event. He invites the girls to his island for an idyllic vacation, when they find a sneaky way of meeting him.
On his island, Slater’s surrounded by his eccentric friends and crew (Christian Slater, Haley Joel Osment, Simon Rex, Levon Hawkes). Also present are his chatty therapist (Kyle MacLachlan) and his able work assistant (Geena Davis, making the most out of her small part).
What takes place on the island perhaps doesn’t become as edgy as the cutting edge film may want, but is still sharply filled with surprises, twists and a social commentary lambasting the dark side of humanity. The exotic island becomes engulfed in strange events aimed at the women guests as targets, as the puzzling film leaves us pondering if the guests will leave the island alive after being humiliated and debased.
The lady guests are given identical bathing suits, stay by the pool into the night as they take drugs and booze it up, and are coaxed into thinking they are having a good time by the perverse host.
But the girls realize something strange is going down. What they do about it makes things suspenseful. It works well until by the end of the third act when things become a bit forced.
Ackie carries the film, and Tatum makes sure things become effacing.
It’s a thriller aimed for our social media age that has a stagnating allure for a diverse audience, while it gamely serves as a cautionary tale against toxic masculinity. Though I can’t quite say I had a good time viewing it, but I did find it a curious film that piqued my interest (made me Blink Twice) with its venomous bite and its disturbing take on the contemporary social scene.
REVIEWED ON 8/27/2024 GRADE: B
dennisschwartzreviews.com