Blink Twice: Movie Review

Cast: Naomi Ackie, Channing Tatum, Alia Shawkat, Adria Arjona, Christian Slater, Haley Joel Osment, Geena Davis
Director: Zoë Kravitz

A psychological thriller that's deeply unsettling in parts and reminiscent of both Jordan Peele's Get Out and Us, first-time director Zoë Kravitz delivers a story that will remain with you long after the lights have gone up - even if you don't like yourself for doing so.

Ackie is the down-on-her-luck Frida, a cocktail waitress with an infatuation to disgraced tech mogul Slater King (Tatum, charm and sinister in equal measure). When King apologises steps down from his company due to some vague abuse of power accusations, Frida and her friend Jess (Shawkat) attend a swanky event in his honour.

Sensing an attraction, the pair are invited to King's private island, a place where he claims he will spend his penitence in therapy. Initially unsure, the pair join the island's bacchanal, overdosing on never-ending champagne, drugs and prestige food. But when Jess disappears and nobody seems to notice, Frida finds her paradise soon becoming a nightmare.

Blink Twice is a captivating debut, that's reminiscent in part of the unfolding unease of the likes of Get Out, but also The Menu. Kravitz loads the directorial deck with quick cut shots of opulence and extravagance, layering on a soundscape that ratchets up every single moment with unease.

It may be a deeply unoriginal critique in parts for many but given the parallels with current US politics and life in general, it's not unintentional that Kravitz once again pushes a message that depressingly needs to be constantly relaid. The clues are there in the opening moments, from the seemingly sincere but doubtlessly hollow apology to the reasoning for the stepdown - it's an aggressively familiar trope that Kravitz more than lays her stamp on.

Ackie is impressive, along with Arjona later on in the film - both commanding presences for different reasons. Certainly, Ackie's demand that she no longer be invisible has much societal emphasis on the position of a black woman in a white man's world - and while some will slam the obvious nature of the message, Ackie's to be commended for imbuing her Frida with aspirations that feel real and achievable.

There's much to be said about Tatum's performance too, though currently that goes too far into spoiler territory for now. But needless to say the effortless charisma deployed to maximum effect early on makes later events feel more gut-wrenching than anything.

But Blink Twice is Kravitz's film. From close ups on actors that make for disorienting moments, to an otherworldly nature that oozes through much of Blink Twice, she's clearly in control of her destiny - even in the film's final horror stages.

Blink Twice may not have a new message to tell, and may really add its fuel to the pantheon of disgust in a post MeToo world, but when the message is as thrillingly presented as this, it's well worth dining out on.