Zoe Kravitz is a successful mainstream actress in Hollywood, and she has the filmography to prove it. She had supporting roles in X-Men: First Class (2011) and two seasons of the HBO limited series, Big Little Lies (2017 and 2019). She also played Catwoman in the action drama, The Batman with Robert Pattinson (2022). So Ms. Kravitz has taken an unexpected and lofty step to director and co-screenwriter for the new release Blink Twice, her feature length directorial debut.
Blink Twice is a sexy psychological thriller about two working class cocktail waitresses, and best friends, who take the opportunity to embrace adventure but end up somewhere cruel. When the two girlfriends meet a famous, reclusive, technology billionaire while working an exclusive gala, the billionaire invites them to join him on his private island for a luxury vacation. And, of course, the ladies decide to go.
As the sunny days are filled with gourmet food, designer drugs, and swimming in the pool, one woman, named Frida, starts noticing strange things...hinting at something dangerous happening. She finds dirt under her fingernails, loses track of time, and discovers a room full of perfume bottles. All these clues make Frida start questioning her reality before she discovers the evil truth.
Blink Twice is an eventful film with some exciting twists. As a darkly satirical response to the post #MeToo movement, it mixes a lot of genres together from comedy and sisterhood to bloody action and mystery. This unexpected mixture of genres is partly why Blink Twice remains entertaining and unpredictable. The film's leading actress, Naomi Ackie (Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody, 2022) gives the most emotionally layered performance in this cast.
When she starts getting nervous for her safety, but keeps a fake smile on her face to appease the men around her, that's when the whole film really starts simmering. Channing Tatum (Fly Me to the Moon, 2024) is relaxed and believable as the flirtatious billionaire, but he isn't the star of this film like Naomi Ackie.
Because it's set on a tropical island with gorgeous men and women, dressed in white, and gradually peeling back a beautiful facade, it reminds me of Greek mythology tales like the Lotus Eaters or Circe from The Odyssey. The cinematography is both seductively colorful and quietly covert, highlighting the rich smells and textures of the blooming lilies and slithering snakes surrounding a large hacienda (where this film was shot on location in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico). One twist near the end feels muddled and unresolved, and another twist near the end is cliche. But those were honestly the only moments where I was taken out of the film's hypnotic gaze.
With a run time of only one hour and 42 minutes, nothing feels too slow or too rushed thanks to the carefully written original screenplay, which Zoe Kravitz worked on with co-screenwriter E.T. Feigenbaum (who wrote for the High Fidelity TV series from 2020 that starred Zoe Kravitz). This film is very rated R though with a lot of language, violence, and drug use, so make sure you steel yourself with as much courage as you can muster before entering the theater.
In the same line as past films, Revenge (2017), Don't Worry Darling (2022), and Infinity Pool (2023), Blink Twice reminds viewers about the treachery of misinformation and the masculine abuse of power from the 1% elite. Are you having a good time? Well if you are, maybe it doesn't matter what happens to you. I walked out of the theater thinking, "Not bad for your first go at directing, Ms. Kravitz.....Not bad at all."
