Content Warning: This article discusses sexual violence.
The name change from “Pussy Island” to “Blink Twice” might have been the film’s first mistake.
What could have been a bold and subversive thought piece on sexual trauma and women’s revenge, with “Pussy Island” became the rather trite and familiar play of power dynamics seen in “Blink Twice” (2024). While Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut is a solid and promising feature, it misses the mark it so desperately tries to hit.
Beginning with a trigger warning on “abuse of power” and “sexual violence,” the film immediately establishes what kind of horror-thriller flick it will be: a contemporary pastiche of every media figure and comment-section argument seen by modern culture in recent decades. While the film artfully explores topics such as cancel culture, trauma and the façade of the rich, the trigger warning just marks the first instance of hand-holding that will be seen throughout the plot.
We are soon introduced to the film’s star and saving grace, Frida, played by Naomi Ackie. She’s a twenty-something nobody working a dead-end catering job and managing a hopeless crush on tech mogul, Slater King, played by Channing Tatum. When working an event that King’s company is hosting, she and her best friend Jess, played by Alia Shawkat, end up sharing a whirlwind night with King and his similarly wealthy entourage. Frida and King hit it off, leading him to invite her and Jess to his private island that he recently acquired post-scandal. What follows is an endless cycle of hedonistic indulgence and luxury that would make Greek gods quake in their sandals.
The tsunami of champagne and nightly bacchanals seems to conceal a dark secret among the men of the group. While many of the girls on the trip shamelessly indulge in the excess luxury and whimsy of the island, Jess confides to Frida her suspicions: Something is seriously wrong. Jess’s prompt and unexpected disappearance the next day triggers the realization among the girls that they have been forgetting things — a lot of things. With the help of a memory-erasing perfume gifted to them by King, the men of the island sexually assault the girls each night. The next day comes, the champagne flows and the girls know no better.
For a debut film of such large production, “Blink Twice” tackles some heavy and volatile topics, including who gets to “move on” from trauma and tragedy. “Forgetting is a gift,” King tells Frida during an innocuous conversation earlier in the film. Kravitz attempts to reveal to us the double standard experienced by victims too often: The assailant can move on easily while the assaulted must carry the burden of trauma with them forever. A pertinent topic but one that is completely upended by an unpredictable and questionable ending.
The rest of the film, however, is burdened by its predictability, often recalling recent releases that comment on the vanity and abuse of the 1%. “The Menu” (2022), “Triangle of Sadness” (2022), “Saltburn” (2023) and “Don’t Worry Darling” (2022) come to mind. However, the idea — one that has been relentlessly pushed in the industry as of recently — that the rich are crazy is not a particularly novel one (who knew!).
However, Kravitz’s lack of originality in some areas shouldn’t entirely demerit her work, especially considering the fact that it’s her first feature. She clearly shows talent and a strong directorial eye, especially seen through the striking visuals and expert sound design. She brought together a talented cast of equally likable and detestable characters that fooled me just as she intended. However, in the end, “Blink Twice” wasn’t quite able to build tension until a logical breaking point, which by the third act makes for an awkward and clumsy handoff.
All in all, “Blink Twice” acts as a standard addition to the revenge genre with a fraction of true originality in it. Blink, and you just might miss it.
