Year of Release: 2024
Director: Zoe Kravitz
Starring: Naomie Ackie, Channing Tatum, Alia Shawkat, Christian Slater, Simon Rex, Adria Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, Luz Caribel Sierra, Levon Hawke, Trem Mullen, Geena Davis, Kyle MacLachlan, Cris Costa, Maria Elena Olivares, Saul Williams, Tiffany Persons
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
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Synopsis and Review
"Blink Twice" is Zoe Kravitz's feature directorial debut, following what has been a consistent, if not unremarkable, acting career (she has had some good supporting roles in George Miller's "Mad Max: Fury Road" and Matt Reeves' "The Batman"). "Blink Twice" focuses its attention on the life of a young woman by the name of Frida. We first encounter her working as a cocktail waitress at a high profile exclusive event. She's working the event with her best friend, Jess. While there they both manage to work the situation to their advantage, and end up meeting the billionaire Slater King, a somewhat controversial figure who has decided to take a backseat in terms of visibility due to some controversial statements. He invites them both to his private island for a weekend of rest and relaxation (and partying). They decide to join a group of individuals, all friends of Slater, on that trip. While on the island, Slater's assistant collects everyone's cell phones, so they can unplug, and fully connect with each other. All the women in the group get gift bags, which include perfume, and while on the island they get constant delicious cocktails, mild drugs, and chef prepared meals. Jess starts noticing some memory lapses of her own, and mentions that to Frida. Frida in the meantime is recognized by one of the local workers of the property who calls her Red Rabbit. One night while partying, Jess is bitten by a snake, and later confides to Frida she wants to leave. Frida is against leaving as she's having such a great time. However the following day everything starts changing, once Frida encounters the maid who suggests that she drinks some snake venom.
As I was watching "Blink Twice" I was reminded of a film where an ordinary event suddenly got out of control, the somewhat mediocre "Very Bad Things", directed by Peter Berg, a film that also featured Christian Slater in one of the lead roles. "Blink Twice" to its credit, does manage to build more context to what is taking place, and does provide some of its characters with a bit more nuance, which goes beyond what can be read from a title card. These are still underdeveloped characters, but they're not completely shallow ones. It's a film with a lofty empowerment angle, one that comes on the heels of a truly despicable and repulsive scenario that is set in motion, however where the film fails to be more successful is in fact on the depiction of the sadists who are behind the events taking place, and the victims of the scenario itself (most of the women are just associated with their professional roles, and not much information regarding them is known). This film could have easily become a version of Eli Roth's "Hostel", but the creative team decided, wisely, to avoid that path. With that being said, if the scenario that is illustrated here is indeed to be taken with a hint of credibility, the characters and motivation behind their actions, should have been given more center stage. The creative team had the willingness to tackle a disturbing topic, but was afraid to go all the way and expose what power and amoral individuals are truly capable of doing, and for that matter explore the "why" (or "why not"). The film doesn't really have the smartness to be a version of an Agatha Christie book/narrative, but also doesn't have the darkness to be a different version of a Stieg Larrson's book/narrative. It falls unsatisfyingly in between. The cast tries their best with the material they have, with Channing Tatum faring quite well in the role of a sinister mogul, with good support from the always reliable Christian Slater, the very talented Kyle MacLachlan, and the very underused Geena Davis. The production team is solid, particularly the cinematography of Adam Newport-Berra and production design from Roberto Bonelli. It's a watchable but also quickly forgettable endeavor.
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