General [SPOILER ALERT] for Blink Twice. It’s great…and VERY heavy, so tread lightly.
In hindsight, I guess it was inevitable. I always liked Zoe Kravitz’s work. But I underestimated how deep the talent pool goes. Being born of 2 incredible talents, and choosing movies directed by greats like Steven Soderbergh and Matt Reeves, It’s really only shocking how long it took Kravitz to write and direct her first feature. But it takes a special talent like Kravitz to make her first feature as potent and exciting as Blink Twice: a movie that women should have been making for decades but only are really starting to now.
The movie opens with a profile of Slater King (Channing Tatum), an internet mogul caught in a bit of a mysterious scandal that’s forcing him to go low profile. At his charity’s private event, Frida (Naomi Ackie) and Jess (Alia Shawkat), two hapless servers, sneak their way into the room. Frida, bumps into Slater, and in her eyes, sparks fly. They hit it off; so well, in fact, that Slater invites them both back to his private island, for one of his “legendary” parties. The three aren’t alone. Slater’s brought his entourage including his buddies Vic (Christian Slater), Tom (Haley Joel Osment), and Cody (Simon Rex), who’ve all brought women as well, including the side-eyeing reality show star Sarah (Adria Arjona). Slater’s manager Stacy (Geena Davis) curates the event, taking everyone’s phones, and getting them all to their rooms, filled with perfumes and foods Frida, Jess, have never experienced before.
Blink Twice is part of a new reality driven by female filmmakers, who you know, might be a part of the over 80% of women who’ve dealt with either sexual harassment or assault in their lifetime (yes it’s that high). This is one of the first times in a movie I’ve seen the trigger warning for sexual assault, one of the most emotionally wrenching things a person can go through. So while it might say, give away a key reveal later in the film, you’re also mentally preparing the audience you care about for what’s about to happen, the right thing to do. Replacing the reveal of what’s happening on this island (which, frankly, we’re all kind of expecting anyway based on the first 20 minutes of the movie), Kravitz instead puts the audience mentally in the headspace of anyone who’s been through a SA they didn’t know was coming. The feeling honestly is like someone roofying you at a party: in the worst moments, you lose track of time, with brief pockets in your brain. And then it’s over, and you have to move on in some way. That’s when most, just, choose to forget, and go on like nothing’s wrong. As the blurs of the parties go on and on, Jess and Frida’s excitement to be on this exclusive island slowly start to be replaced with confusion, and mounting dread. But, they quickly realize that all the levers of control they had have been taking by Slater and all his minions: no phones, no way out of here, even choosing the clothes they want to wear for them from time to time. The mechanics of how this island works and the giant web of sinister mechanics that go into Slater King’s “parties” are the chilling mystery to solve in Blink Twice, which Kravitz pulls over the audience’s eyes with a torrent of booze, incredible food, and awesome clothes, until we can’t anymore, ending up in the paranoia Jess, Sarah, and Frida find themselves in.
The female point of view Kravitz brings also helps give some additional bite to the fallout from the sexual assaults that happen about halfway though. These women want Death Wish style revenge, that makes sense. However, they also, you know, would settle for exposing the assholes here with proof, and get as many women out as they can along the way without dying. Instead of punching and shooting their way off the island as part of another generic revenge flick, the tactics have to be much more under the radar for these powerless women. It is here that Kravitz uses the incredible performances of Naomi Ackie and Adria Arjona to showcase the fallout of these horrible events that will sadly hit home for 4 out of 5 female audience members. All those previous nice statements by the men all seem sinister and malevolent now, but our leading ladies are forced to laugh it off, and smile through the pain. You can feel the barely contained fear and anger on Sarah and Frida as they stall for time until the next dinner to look for evidence and plan an escape. Kravitz also somehow finds humor in these novices trying to hatch a plan, giving an otherwise dark endeavor just a little bit of lightness to get through the day. And yes, while Blink Twice deals with bleak things, it’s never boring, and always interesting, thanks to Kravitz’s writing and direction, expertly pulled off by Naomi Ackie and Adria Arjona, having the summer of her life.
Even with the ending Kravitz decides is best for Blink Twice, I was still stuck to my seat when the movie ended with the rest of the audience. The audacity and boldness to make a movie like this out of material our writer/director chose could only come from someone as talented and experienced as Zoe Kravitz. And this is her first film! On this trajectory, I can’t wait for bigger stories and bigger crazier casts; no blinking twice from me on Zoe Kravtiz’s career behind the camera. I’ll follow Catwoman anywhere.