Blink Twice (2024) Review: Zoë Kravitz’s Directorial Debut is Both Stylish and Sneaky Thriller

Blink Twice marks the directorial debut of actress Zoë Kravitz, best known for her roles in Mad Max: Fury Road, The Batman and TV’s Big Little Lies. Interestingly, the title was originally called Pussy Island when Kravitz first co-wrote her screenplay with E.T. Feigenbaum. It’s a gender-flipped dark comedy of Get Out and a post-#MeToo revenge thriller as the story follows Frida (Naomi Ackie, last seen in the tepid biopic of Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody) and her best friend, Jess (Alia Shawkat), where they both land a gig as waitresses serving at Slater King’s (Channing Tatum) fundraising event.

Slater King is a tech billionaire, who recently embroiled in a controversy, turns out to be Frida’s secret admirer. The latter finally gets her chance to meet him in person after she and Jess manage to slip their way from their work clothes to evening dresses. Then, following an accident that causes Frida to trip on the floor, there comes Slater. And the next thing she knows, he invites her and her friend to join him for an exclusive getaway on his private island.

It’s a dream come true for Frida and Jess and upon their arrival on Slater’s private island, they are required to give up their phones. The tech billionaire also invites his other VIPs including Vic (Christian Slater), Cody (Simon Rex), Tom (Haley Joel Osment) and Lucas (Levon Hawke). There are other women too including Sarah (Adria Arjona), Camilla (Liz Caribel) and Heather (Trew Mullen). Finally, there’s Slater’s manager-sister Stacy (Geena Davis) and his therapist, Rich (Kyle MacLachlan).

At first, everything seems like all fun and paradise with lots of booze, partying, designer drugs and exquisite dinners. Kravitz manages to capture the intoxicating visual look and feel of a wild party of debauchery. She also slipped into some hallucinatory and hazy moments in between, foreshadowing something is not right with the party. Credits also go to Kravitz’s emphasis on the sound design and music score, where the latter is composed by Chanda Dancy to capture the disorienting state of confusion, particularly from Frida’s perspective.

But here lies the problem. Kravitz seems to be going around in circles. Rinse and repeat, as we spend around 50 minutes or so to see Frida and the rest getting drunk, having parties day and night. The repetitive nature of its storytelling tends to wear out its welcome, making me wonder when is Kravitz going to take it to the next level.

Thankfully, once Frida discovers her friend is missing and she starts to investigate what’s going on with the help of Sarah, the movie manages to pick up its pace. It’s a thriller territory from here while Kravitz slipping in some social commentaries related to the abuse of power and sexual violence, two of which have the studio issued a trigger warning on social media.

There’s a revenge angle here, notably after Frida has found out what really happens to her and the rest of the girls who are invited for the getaway. Kravitz doesn’t exactly go all-out exploitation here say, in the vein of I Spit on Your Grave. But that doesn’t mean she chooses to mellow out here. Payback’s still a b**** once it approaches the third act, where Kravitz doesn’t shy away from blood and violence.

As for the cast, Naomi Ackie is perfectly cast as a naive young woman who goes way over her head. But when it’s time for a score to settle, her character gradually and convincingly morphed into a hardened individual. In a 180-degree turn from his hilariously exaggerated cameo appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine, Channing Tatum — who is Kravitz’s real-life partner — excels in his manipulative role as Slater King that combines bad-boy charm with an underlying sleaziness. The rest of the actors, namely Adria Arjona and Geena Davis deliver equally strong support as Sarah and Stacy.

Then, there’s the twist, which is best described as how the tables have turned, showcasing Kravitz’s talent behind the cameras in both writing and directing. It’s far from perfect but for a first-time filmmaker, Kravitz’s Blink Twice is off to a good start.