Blink Twice is a psychological thriller about Frida(Naomi Ackie) and her friend Jess(Alia Shawkat) who meet tech bro billionaire Slater(Channing Tatum) while they are catering his annual gala and go with him and a group of others to his private island.
Visually sharp and occasionally audacious the colors, the cutting, the framing work in perfect tandem with the soundtrack and the incredibly effective sound mix. The production design is bursting with ideas and courage. From this standpoint the film is an absolute success and feels more unique and cinematic than almost anything else released so far this year. The story unfortunately doesn't meet its artistic ambition, it feels more like a protracted situation rather than a narrative, if not derivative exactly more like a pastiche of influences that doesn't quite come together. As a result some of the themes get muddled, its unclear what the message is other than sexual assault (and more broadly subjugation) is bad. But power, wealth, autonomy, authenticity, avarice these are kind of brought up but not really refined.
The cast is full of talent but unfortunately none of the characters feel particularly three dimensional and their motivations and interiority remain frustratingly distant. Ackie imparticular is a wonderful actor but she, at least in the beginning, seems to be solely motivated by a greed and consumerist envy that is really off putting. That may be only what we see on the surface but the script doesn't allow us(or her for that matter) to go any deeper. All that being said it is just kinda great to see Christian Slater, Geena Davis, Haley Joel Osment, Adria Arjona, and Shawkat on screen in this bizarre situation.
A promising debut from director/co-writer Zoë Kravitz, not perfect but bold and worth a watch.
Currently in theaters.
Rent It.
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