'Blink Twice' Review: An Uneven Directorial Debut for Zoë Kravitz
While Blink Twice possesses an assured sense of style and is bolstered by impeccable performances from its star-studded cast, the film doesn’t say much about the subject it presents.
There’s never been a directorial debut this year that starts so assuredly than Zoë Kravitz’s Blink Twice. Immediately pulling the audience into its story with such a strong, confident sense of style, Kravitz quickly posits a disorienting atmosphere through its unsettling sound design and sharp cuts that crawl under your skin as Frida (Naomi Ackie) and best friend Jess (Alia Shawkat) are quickly seduced by Slater King (Channing Tatum), a billionaire who makes his return in the public eye after inappropriate behavior caused him to step away and apologize.
Frida longs to be in the spotlight at least once in her life, as someone who always feels invisible. That’s why she and Jess, who work at Slater King’s event, bring out dresses to mingle with the crowd after their shift ends. It’s in that moment that Frida meets King, who’s quickly enamored by her presence in the wake of an accident. Having spent the night with the two discussing and getting to know one another, King asks if they would be willing to join himself and a few of his friends at his private island. Longing to finally be accepted, Frida immediately jumps at the occasion to join Slater on what could be the vacation of a lifetime.
Of course, this is far from being the sweeping getaway Slater promises to be, as everyone is forced to give up their cellphones as soon as they land. Suspicions immediately arise, but everyone is on party mode, which include Slater’s business partner, Vic (Christian Slater), chef Cody (Simon Rex), DJ Tom (Haley Joel Osment), recent graduate Lucas (Levon Hawke) alongside a few of Slater’s female friends, Sarah (Adria Arjona), Camilla (Liz Caribel) and Heather (Trew Mullen).
There’s no denying something’s up, but no one can remember exactly where they were, or what happened on the previous day. The only one who has a better memory than most, Jess, can’t even find her lighter, which is always on someone else’s possession. This exacerbates the already disorienting style on display, with Kravitz never showing more than she wants to highlight in its opening moments to keep the mystery afloat (the title card, for instance, appears in a literal flash, an aesthetic choice she and editor Kathryn J. Schubert constantly play with).
Kravitz seems like a visual-first filmmaker, which is precisely how it should be. She deftly represents everything we need to know about the characters and the world they inhabit through an enveloping lens, presenting the island as a lavish paradise in its opening moments. And who wouldn’t be swept away by its impeccable pool, luscious greenery and tantalizing food (described with legitimate flair by Cody). Everything looks pitch-perfect, but perhaps too perfect. It’s why cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra smartly exacerbates the tension between the protagonists before starkly changing its aesthetic once we learn more about Slater’s motivations and the island itself.
Visually and aurally, Blink Twice always impresses. Each quick cut feels like a jolt of electricity as we learn more about Frida’s past and Slater himself. At the same time, the initially sweeping photography becomes more upsetting as the truth is revealed. One shot in particular, filled with spotlight flares, is the film’s most striking image, and one will never be able to look at some of the characters the same way ever again after it’s etched in our eyeballs.
Of course, this visual prowess wouldn’t be this effective if it weren’t for the rock-solid acting given by its star-studded cast. While a few players feel underused (Osment, Christian Slater, and Geena Davis, in particular, reduced to a select few scenes that don’t feel impactful as they should), Ackie more than commands the screen and gives agency to the protagonist from the very minute she’s introduced. Frida’s arc is further developed when she teams up with Sarah as they begin to unravel why they constantly feel disoriented and can’t seem to remember anything that happened from the previous day.
In those scenes, Arjona proves why she’s one of the best talents working today, with an impeccable showcase of pure emotional breakdown, modulating intense amounts of fear with a façade everyone can see through. Her confident exterior eventually begins to crumble as she slowly realizes something’s not right. She begins to lose her cool when she comes to the conclusion that the women, unbeknownst to them, are controlled. It acts as a terrific companion to her career-best work in Richard Linklater’s Hit Man, which also modulated intense emotions through her portrayal of Madison (though, in this case, they were less reliant on fear and more of an intensely passionate depiction of lust).
But the real star of the picture is Tatum, through his fake teeth and friendly exterior, hides a side of himself he does not want anyone to remember. The masses have constantly vilified Tatum as a purely ‘pretty face,’ and not a serious performer, and yet he always gives his all to any character he portrays on screen. Slater King is no different than the dedication he brought to Magic Mike, or even Jenko in the 21 Jump Street movies. His demeanor in Blink Twice is frightening, through the pampered softness he puts on display acts as pure deception than anything else. It’s hard to discuss his performance without giving anything away, but it’s another brilliantly subversive turn from a severely underappreciated actor who will get his flowers once people take him seriously beyond the shoddy fanfiction turn he gave as Remy LeBeau in Shawn Levy’s dreadful Deadpool & Wolverine.
It’s a shame, however, that the story can’t hold the weight to its impeccable visual style and fun performances. Kravitz unfortunately sticks a good amount of her runtime with repetitive, Saltburn-like scenes in which the characters constantly have fun and indulge in a lavish lifestyle, edited like a TikTok influencer “living my best life” video. It doesn’t work, and drags the momentum down, even if the sound design constantly distorts itself and becomes far more agitating as the days blend together.
It’s then easy to guess where the movie is heading, even if Kravitz doesn’t give any clues. It feels painstakingly obvious from the moment Slater King introduces himself to Frida that the man cannot be trusted, and that none of the male characters are either. But the movie doesn’t dare go deep enough with its subject matter, always staying in the “men are bad” tenet. Yes, and? I’m a man. I agree. But do you have anything else to say beyond this? Kravitz doesn’t seem to think so, but it, unfortunately, hampers the dramatic progression of its lead characters and turns into a far more exploitative and sinister movie, not necessarily because the violence is graphic or the subject matter is difficult to digest.
Blink Twice becomes exploitative because it doesn’t give the protagonists the satisfaction they need to take matters into their own hands, unlike the lead characters of André Forcier’s wonderful Ababouiné, who put an end to the cycle of abuse perpetrated by the (rich, white, powerful) men in such a blunt and satisfying way, no one will dare bother them again. Kravitz has difficulty showcasing Frida’s act of vengeance towards the (rich, white, powerful) men because its catharsis feels like an afterthought and not as the primary source of the characters’ disorientation.
As a result, Blink Twice can’t overcome the trappings it puts its lead characters in, even if the visual style remains compelling, and the musical choices are always spot-on (the James Brown leitmotivs are terrific). Its third act turns an intriguing premise into a vile, exploitative drama that never supports its victims nor gives them agency (even if Frida had it beforehand) to defeat their perpetrators. Intense scenes of rape and sexual abuse are treated for shock value, rather than legitimate drama that should be showcased with zero flashiness, and exuberance.
But Kravitz seems too laser-focused on style, that she forgets that all good movies blend an effective lens with substance. Yes, the actors are game to do anything they want. However, their characters never go as far as they should, and the dramatic momentum built up turns sour as we begin to realize exactly where it’s going, without fail. If Kravitz works on the substance of her films, alongside her sense of style, her directorial future is bright. She shows promise, but how far is she willing to go to truly make her mark in the world of filmmaking? Kravitz gives her first step with Blink Twice, but not a giant leap.