Soaked in style and drenched in fervor, Blink Twice is an auspicious directorial debut for Zoe Kravitz. Tense, unsettling, and ultimately f**ked up, it’s easily one of the most entertaining suspense thrillers of the year.
Naomi Ackie stars as Frida, who along with her friend Jess (Alia Shawkat) is on a whim invited to join tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum) and his pals (including Christian Slater and Haley Joel Osmet) on his private island. Drugs, alcohol, and playful abandon ensue—but something isn’t quite right about it all.
The less you know going in about Blink Twice the better, and so I’ll stop right there. Many reviews have made natural comparisons between this one to another popular thriller that set the world on fire a few years ago—I won’t say what it is, but Blink Twice doesn’t quite achieve the same perfect triangulation of suspense, thematic undertones, and crowd pleasing slaps.
Nonetheless, Blink Twice works extremely well. Featuring a great mix of score, editing, and visuals, Kravitz proves herself one to watch behind the camera; I was very impressed by her debut.
The cast is strong too. Ackie is terrific in the lead role, delivering the kind of performance that becomes something else entirely before you actually realize it. Adria Arjona, who plays Sarah, is a scene stealer though; I would just have easily loved to see the movie told from her perspective. Tatum is very good as well.
The movie offers up an en enjoyable and rewarding third act, and yet I can’t help but feel that Kravitz (who co-wrote the story with E.T. Feigenbaum) took the easy way out. After the extremely dark and shocking reveal, Blnk Twice wraps up a tad too simply, as if some studio producer insisted they give audiences a “fun” conclusion versus a killer one.
Blink Twice isn’t perfect, but for a while it toys with the word. Highly recommended, and I’ll be first in line to see what Kravitz the director cooks up next.
Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.