Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut BLINK TWICE starts out with a great deal of promise but ultimately fails to live up to its promise. The target Kravitz appears to be aiming for is a GET OUT-style smart horror thriller, with a set-up the recalls both KNIVES OUT and THE MENU, where a select group of beautiful people on a private island with wealthy types, an island where things go very wrong. In this case, the island is owned by tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum), who invites a pair of waitresses who have dressed up to crash his posh cocktail party, Frida (Naomie Ackie) and Jess (Alia Shawkat), to join him and his friends for a couple of days on his private island. It’s a dream come true for Frida, the reason she had dressed up to crash the party to catch the billionaire’s eye.
What starts out like a Disney-ish meet-cute romantic fantasy, with Frida and Jess whisked away on a private jet, plied with champagne, and then ensconced in little bungalows filled with clothes and luxurious supplies, has some creepy foreshadowing. There is some scandal around Slater King, dealing with something that happened at parties with a #MeToo vibe followed by a unconvincing public apology. Nonetheless Frida is enamored with the handsome billionaire, although when Frida is introduced at the cocktail party to King’s therapist, played by Kyle MacLachlan, she jokingly says “blink twice if I’m in danger” and the therapist pauses before he smiles. On the island, they are expected to give up their phones, and Jess jokes about whether the human sacrifice is before or after dinner.
Despite all that, the women quickly settle into a pattern of lounging around the pool, night spent dinning on fine cuisine and never-ending champagne, as host Slater King asks “Are you having a good time?” to which they invariably reply “I’m having a great time.”
And that’s where the film bogs down, going through iterations of that party scene a few too many times without any thing much happening. It works less to build suspense than to dissipate the little threat that had been created. When the horror/thriller finally gets underway, the events that unfurl are far-fetched and it really doesn’t make sense, or even hold one’s interest. Yes, horrible things happen but we see them coming from far off, which dispels any suspense, and the explanations really don’t hold up, sometimes in eye-rolling inducing fashion.
Naomie Ackie plays the central character, Frida, and on screen most of the time but the character is surprisingly underwritten, with little if any backstory and a romantic innocence that seems more fitting for a teenager. Ackie works hard to make the most of this thin material, while Alia Shawkat as Jess provides comic commentary, as well as an every-present yellow lighter whose true purpose is eventually revealed, to balance Frida’s romantic view, a view that circumstances upend. Channing Tatum is charmingly oily as the tech billionaire hosting this sinister party.
The film features a good supporting cast that includes standout Geena Davis as Slater King’s sister and assistant Stacy, his high-strung assistant, who combines a hyper-competency with a tendency to drop things as she runs around handling all the practical matters of having an island full of guests and more. Christian Slater plays Slater King’s right-hand man Vic, while Haley Joel Osment plays Tom, a bitter, washed-up star and gourmet meals are prepared by chef-guest Cody (Simon Rex). On the female side of the guests, another standout is Adria Arjona as Sarah, a “Survivor” winner who is a beauty with a special set of skills, while Trew Mullen plays stoner-girl Heather, always up for smoking fat blunts. Liz Caribel plays Heather’s pal and Levon Hawke plays handsome Lucas.
Adam Newport-Berra provides stylish cinematography heavy on quick cuts, visuals supplemented by heavy-handed sound design.
Zoe Kravitz deserves credit for aiming high, for a stylish, high-concept thriller with a have and have-not commentary, blended with a feminist one. The film is certainly stylish to look at, with great costumes and sets. While the cast is good, the script, co-written by Kravitz and E.T. Feigenbaum, just doesn’t achieve its ambitions.
Review
BLINK TWICE – Review
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Photo credit: Carlos Somonte. Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios. © 2024 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut BLINK TWICE starts out with a great deal of promise but ultimately fails to live up to its promise. The target Kravitz appears to be aiming for is a GET OUT-style smart horror thriller, with a set-up the recalls both KNIVES OUT and THE MENU, where a select group of beautiful people on a private island with wealthy types, an island where things go very wrong. In this case, the island is owned by tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum), who invites a pair of waitresses who have dressed up to crash his posh cocktail party, Frida (Naomie Ackie) and Jess (Alia Shawkat), to join him and his friends for a couple of days on his private island. It’s a dream come true for Frida, the reason she had dressed up to crash the party to catch the billionaire’s eye.
What starts out like a Disney-ish meet-cute romantic fantasy, with Frida and Jess whisked away on a private jet, plied with champagne, and then ensconced in little bungalows filled with clothes and luxurious supplies, has some creepy foreshadowing. There is some scandal around Slater King, dealing with something that happened at parties with a #MeToo vibe followed by a unconvincing public apology. Nonetheless Frida is enamored with the handsome billionaire, although when Frida is introduced at the cocktail party to King’s therapist, played by Kyle MacLachlan, she jokingly says “blink twice if I’m in danger” and the therapist pauses before he smiles. On the island, they are expected to give up their phones, and Jess jokes about whether the human sacrifice is before or after dinner.
Despite all that, the women quickly settle into a pattern of lounging around the pool, night spent dinning on fine cuisine and never-ending champagne, as host Slater King asks “Are you having a good time?” to which they invariably reply “I’m having a great time.”
And that’s where the film bogs down, going through iterations of that party scene a few too many times without any thing much happening. It works less to build suspense than to dissipate the little threat that had been created. When the horror/thriller finally gets underway, the events that unfurl are far-fetched and it really doesn’t make sense, or even hold one’s interest. Yes, horrible things happen but we see them coming from far off, which dispels any suspense, and the explanations really don’t hold up, sometimes in eye-rolling inducing fashion.
Naomie Ackie plays the central character, Frida, and on screen most of the time but the character is surprisingly underwritten, with little if any backstory and a romantic innocence that seems more fitting for a teenager. Ackie works hard to make the most of this thin material, while Alia Shawkat as Jess provides comic commentary, as well as an every-present yellow lighter whose true purpose is eventually revealed, to balance Frida’s romantic view, a view that circumstances upend. Channing Tatum is charmingly oily as the tech billionaire hosting this sinister party.
The film features a good supporting cast that includes standout Geena Davis as Slater King’s sister and assistant Stacy, his high-strung assistant, who combines a hyper-competency with a tendency to drop things as she runs around handling all the practical matters of having an island full of guests and more. Christian Slater plays Slater King’s right-hand man Vic, while Haley Joel Osment plays Tom, a bitter, washed-up star and gourmet meals are prepared by chef-guest Cody (Simon Rex). On the female side of the guests, another standout is Adria Arjona as Sarah, a “Survivor” winner who is a beauty with a special set of skills, while Trew Mullen plays stoner-girl Heather, always up for smoking fat blunts. Liz Caribel plays Heather’s pal and Levon Hawke plays handsome Lucas.
Adam Newport-Berra provides stylish cinematography heavy on quick cuts, visuals supplemented by heavy-handed sound design.
Zoe Kravitz deserves credit for aiming high, for a stylish, high-concept thriller with a have and have-not commentary, blended with a feminist one. The film is certainly stylish to look at, with great costumes and sets. While the cast is good, the script, co-written by Kravitz and E.T. Feigenbaum, just doesn’t achieve its ambitions.
BLINK TWICE opens Friday, Aug. 23, in theaters.
RATING: 2 out of 4 stars