R 2024 ‧ Thriller/Crime ‧ 1h 42m
Jordan Peele described Get Out as a social thriller. It addressed racism with a dash of "The Twilight Zone." Similarly, Blink Twice uses the lens of a social thriller to address sexual assault and entitlement. I would imagine the pitch meeting for Blink Twice was “Get Out meets Jeffrey Epstein’s private island.” I consider Get Out a great movie whereas Blink Twice is just a pretty good movie. However, I will say this is Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut and she delivered a solid film that she also helped to write and produce.
Waitressing at an event, Frida (Naomi Ackie) and Jess (Alia Shawkat) encounter billionaire tech mogul Slater King (Channing Tatum, who also happens to be engaged to Kravitz). Frida and Slater flirt with one another and Slater invites Frida and Jess to come with him and his entourage to his private island retreat. Included in the entourage are: Slater’s creepy friend (Christian Slater) who is always taking pictures with his Polaroid; Slater’s bumbling actor friend (Haley Joel Osment), and Sarah (Adria Arjona) who was a contestant on "Survivor Girl Island." Upon arrival at the island, Slater’s assistant (Geena Davis) collects everyone’s phones so they can be present on their getaway. The island setting has beautiful weather, impressive accommodations, complementary perfume, chef-prepared food, alcohol, drugs, and no responsibilities. Everything seems perfect until it isn’t as Frida, Jess, and Sarah start to notice some things on the island don’t seem right. Suspense ensues and the story brings a satisfying resolution.
I’m not always a huge Channing Tatum fan — sometimes I think he is hired just to be handsome and doesn’t bring much else. Here, I liked his work. He was believable as a charming billionaire and also believable as a man the audie
nce starts to lose trust in. Naomi Ackie plays the lead protagonist and she’s fine. Still, her character isn’t particularly charming or funny so it feels like a leap that Slater would immediately feel a connection to invite her and her friend to his island after a brief encounter.
Blink Twice is distributed by Amazon MGM Studios so it will likely streaming on Prime sooner rather than later. Add it to your queue.
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