This isn't the new Alien movie, Naomi, so stop pretending that flower is a face hugger. — Handout
Appropriately for its title, Zoe Kravitz’s debut feature Blink Twice unfolds in its main character’s eyes, which are by turns wondering, astonished and utterly terrified. Frida (Naomi Ackie) is a cater-waiter who’s thrilled to catch the eye of tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum) at a gala – and even more thrilled when he casually invites her and her friend Jess (Alia Shawkat) to join him and a handful of others on his private island for an exotic vacation.
The trip is, at first, a happy dream of luxury and lavish food and endless drinks, but the vibe is a bit odd, and Frida soon wonders aloud if something horrible is about to happen. Spoiler alert: It is.
Channing's opening gambit wasn't working too well.
Blink Twice reminds its viewer of another debut horror feature, Jordan Peele’s Get Out, which also featured a hero becoming increasingly uncomfortable in a world that slowly gets creepier and creepier. But Kravitz’s film is less comedic and more visually stylish.
Primary colors fill the screen: King’s island mansion is blood-red, surrounded by fountains that give the impression that the house is bleeding profusely. The walls – and, in one scene, gel-like spa face masks – are blinding blue; a vivid yellow snake, at one point, slithers through the bright grass.
The women wear matching white, their gowns seeming to float around them in the night like beautiful ghosts. A heavy door opens, with a creak that sounds disturbingly like a scream.
Yes, I am still Channing my Tatum.
The film goes on longer than it needs to, and as with so many in its genre, its director loses control by the third act.
But Blink Twice is a promising debut that’s haunting for its performances (Ackie gives a vivid, vulnerable star turn; Tatum finds, behind his good-guy smile, an eeriness he’s never shown on-screen; Geena Davis pops up to steal a few scenes, as is her right) and for its feminist sensibility.
The women of this island need to team up to save each other, and those white dresses soon become filthy with blood and dirt. Once invisible, Frida is finally seen. – The Seattle Times/Tribune News Service
Summary:
A stunning directorial debut
