When there is a warning before the film begins stating there will be disturbing content, I am always a bit weary. At first when I heard about Blink Twice, I just thought of it as another thriller flick such as The Menu, but it was similar yet different in its own ways. Let’s just say that Zoe Kravitz’s directorial debut will hopefully spur her to make more.
Blink Twice is a thriller crime film that stars Channing Tatum and Naomi Ackie as the main antagonist and protagonist respectively. Ackie portrays “Frida”, a cocktail waitress that lives a quiet life with her friend Jess. She is approached by billionaire Slater King (Tatum) who invites her and Jess to join him on his private island with several other people. Frida is having the time of her life drinking and doing drugs with strangers until things aren’t what they seem.
That is pretty much the entire plot I can give without spoiling the rest. Even though the reveal doesn’t come until towards the end, most of the movie gives subtle hints to what is about to happen.
I am not a huge thriller movie goer. So writing a review about one might prove to be difficult, but I am glad I started off on a good note. I’m gonna start by saying this movie had my heart pounding almost the entire time. It had a creepy feel because I knew Slater King was going to be the bad guy at some point but I just wasn’t sure when. The movie did an excellent job at teasing different parts to make you think about all the characters involved.
This was so well done because the acting was on point. Every main character was played almost perfectly. There were a couple that I felt were sort of unneeded and forced in there but overall the cast was superb. Tatum and Ackie had great chemistry together as well as Adria Arjona, who plays Sarah, another woman that Slater King invites.
Throughout the entirety of Blink Twice, there was this one musical theme that played and every time I heard it, I got goosebumps. I felt like something terrible was going to happen or a big reveal was coming. Sometimes that did happen and other times it didn’t and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time.
Now comes where the movie lacked a little. I enjoyed the story and the direction that it was going. However, there were a few choices made toward the end of the film that were questionable. I didn’t really see the twist or reveal coming and honestly wasn’t a huge fan of it. Frida does in fact figure the mystery out on the island, and I liked that but made a decision that kind of erases what she just went through to get out of the conflict.
Getting to the end of the movie was kind of a trudge. It did well setting everything up but took a while to do it. The ending seemed like it was a bit rushed. I wish they would have extended the runtime a little longer to explain and expand on all the revenge tactics that were cut abruptly short.
Final Thoughts:
For being a directorial debut movie, Blink Twice was well done. Several flaws keep it from being top tier for me, however this is definitely a movie I can revisit at a later date. Like I stated before, I am not a huge thriller fan but I would highly recommend seeing this movie if you want to see great acting and a unique story.
