Film Reviews & Movie Analysis

Blink Twice is a psychological thriller starring Channing Tatum, Naomi Ackie, and Adria Arjona, marking the directorial debut of actress Zoë Kravitz. The film follows tech billionaire Slater King (Tatum), who invites a group of friends to his private island, including recent acquaintances Frida (Ackie) and her friend Jess (Alia Shawkat). Eager to be in King’s dazzling presence, Frida jumps at the chance. At first, it’s all about lounging by the pool and enjoying gourmet dinners, but the island harbours secrets and memories that might be better left forgotten.

“Blink twice if I’m in danger”

The first thing to do is give Channing Tatum his flowers because while we often associate him with playing one-dimensional, hapless bad boy characters, Tatum cleverly uses this to his advantage in Blink Twice—then pulls off a few surprising twists. He perfectly balances sensual charm with the ability to flip a switch and become a quietly dangerous psychopath.

Don’t be surprised if you’re left wondering whether you’re supposed to love or loathe Slater King. He epitomizes the kind of powerful men who make you second-guess yourself—did you imagine that? Did you remember that correctly? Surely the man in power must be right… right? Ninety percent of the time, he’s lovely. It’s chilling in its blatant yet subtle real life parallels.

The subtext in this film was at times heavy-handed, with the incessant clicking of the Polaroid camera and it’s representation of memory, the innuendos, and corpus spongiosum imagery. But what worked brilliantly was the plainness of its main character, Frida. We didn’t need to know much about Frida’s past because she was designed for the audience to project themselves onto her. Whether or not she looks like you, Frida represents that part of you that wants to be seen. The part that’s tired of the same old boring life, the same old boring job, and craves a little excitement—72 hours of living like the rich and unattainable. We watch as Frida is drawn to King, does everything to gain and keep his attention, and ignores her own instincts because paradise isn’t supposed to be problematic.

Blink Twice reminds us that the grass might be greener, but it’s not natural.

“Are you having a good time?”

Despite its dark underbelly, Blink Twice is funny—laugh-out-loud funny at times. However, while the humour adds levity, it sometimes feels sporadic, leading to an odd sense of misplacement. Blink Twice isn’t a dark comedy, but it veers in that direction toward the end, which dilutes some of the more impactful moments that would have benefited from being allowed to sit quietly and digest without the punctuation of a zippy one-liner.

Blink once, and I enjoyed this film. Blink twice, and I start to question everything that went unsaid.

I firmly believe that not everything needs to be spelled out for the audience, but I was desperate for Blink Twice to give us more than just scraps. After the credits rolled, my mind was flooded with questions, because if you’re going to hint at Slater King’s past—especially as it relates to the present—we eventually we need that hint to be solid backstory.

The flowers, their antidote, why these women, how often the cycle repeats, and more. Although it was possible to skip over these narrative gaps while watching Blink Twice, too many unanswered questions remained to let the ones that could have stayed a mystery lie.

Despite the film’s occasional tonal confusion and being built on a bed of unanswered questions, Blink Twice is an exciting debut from Kravitz. It excels in its analysis of powerful men, forgotten women, and finally changing what happy ever after looks like for a films victim.

What did you think of Blink Twice?

This review has also been posted on Medium