TRASH IN MY EYE No. 39 of 2024 (No. 1983) by Leroy Douresseaux
Blink Twice (2024)
Running time: 103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)
MPA – R for strong violent content, sexual assault, drug use and language throughout, and some sexual references.
DIRECTORS: Zöe Kravitz
WRITERS: Zöe Kravitz and E.T. Feigenbaum
PRODUCERS: Zöe Kravitz, Bruce Cohen, Garret Levitz, Tiffany Persons, and Channing Tatum
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Adam Newport-Berra (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Kathryn J. Schubert
COMPOSER: Chanda Dancy
MYSTERY/THRILLER
Starring: Naomi Ackie, Channing Tatum, Alia Shawkat, Christian Slater, Simon Rex, Adria Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, Liz Caribel, Levon Hawke, Trew Mullen, Geena Davis, and Kyle MacLachlan
SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:
Blink Twice is a both an incredible psychological thriller and mesmerizing mystery thriller and is sort of a spiritual sibling of Jordan Peele's “Get Out”
Naomi Ackie and Channing Tatum gives stellar performances that really sell this film's frequent weirdness
This is a stunning directorial debut on the part of Zöe Kravitz, and thus far, it is the best film released in 2024
Blink Twice is a 2024 psychological thriller and mystery film from director Zöe Kravitz. The film focuses on a cocktail waitress who accepts a tech billionaire's offer to vacation on his private island, after which, she begins to question her reality of the situation.
Blink Twice introduces Frida (Naomi Ackie), a cocktail waitress. She is working an exclusive event with her roommate and best friend and roommate, Jess (Alia Shawkat). The event's V.I.P. is billionaire tech mogul, Slater King (Channing Tatum), who recently stepped down as CEO of King Tech amid a public apology for some bad behavior on his part in the past. Frida and Slater quickly strike up a friendship, and he invites her and Jess to join him and his friends to holiday at his private island.
Arriving at the island, Slater's assistant, Stacy (Geena Davis), confiscates the everyone's phone. Also on the island for some fun are Slater's friends and business partners: Vic (Christian Slater), Cody (Simon Rex), Tom (Haley Joel Osment), and Lucas (Levon Hawke). In addition to Frida and Jess, there are three female guests: Sarah (Adria Arjona), Camilla (Liz Caribel), and Heather (Trew Mullen). The women are treated to lavish rooms, gift bags with perfume, gourmet meals, and a luxurious, carefree holiday experience.
But something is wrong. Frida has a hard time keeping track of time, and she begins to question her perception of reality. Also, there is a strange maid who is saying something to her that she can't quite make out. When one of the women disappears, Frida is forced to confront this luxurious holiday, the kind she always wanted... as troubling as this dream vacay has turned out to be.
After director Steven Soderbergh made his feature film debut with sex, lies, and videotape (1989), some may have wondered if his rousing success with it (winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes 1989 and earning a “Best Original Screenplay” nomination) was “beginner's luck” or perhaps, a fluke. For several years, the film did seem like a fluke, but by the time Soderbergh won a “Best Director” Oscar 12 years later, one could say that sex, lies, and videotape was not a fluke, but was a calling card.
I'd like to believe that Blink Twice will also be a calling card for its young first-time director Zoe Kravitz. Right now, it is the best new film to debut in 2024, and I wouldn't be surprised if I am calling it the “Best Picture of the Year 2024” deep into the 2024-25 movie awards season. Blink Twice is an astounding debut, a mystery thriller and psychological terror that recalls Alfred Hitchcock and David Lynch. And no, I would not be embarrassed to reference Lynch's legendary Blue Velvet (1986), of which I am not a big fan, when discussing Blink Twice. I am also calling Blink Twice a spiritual sibling of Jordan Peele's Get Out (2017) and a distant relative of Alex Garland's Men (2022). Blink Twice even has a element similar to one found in the underrated horror thriller, You're Next (2011).
Kathryn J. Schubert's film editing for Blink Twice is superb, and I think that should be mentioned. Of course, I think Schubert has superb material with which to work. Kravitz has an eye for storytelling which finds pleasure in accepting that altered states of reality are a norm for many of us, especially when we obtain something we always wanted in a way that seems to be too good to be true. Dressing her film in Biblical themes, “Me Too” politics, gender dynamics, and sexual gamesmanship, Kravitz takes the screenplay she wrote with E.T. Feigenbaum and grapples with the modern battle of the sexes.
Behind the pulpy entertainment and popcorn horror thrills of this psychological thriller is a movie that does a deep dive into the modern psyche. Kravitz isn't afraid to examine the social hierarchies and assumed and presumed privileges. It is refreshing that Kravitz so boldly answers any questions her film asks with a resounding, “Because he can.”
Actress Naomi Ackie is the perfect choice to be this film's lead. Her face, with its wide mouth and big expressive eyes, is an artist's canvas. Whatever her director needs in terms of emotion and action, Ackie can deliver. Also, I must say that Channing Tatum shocks me in Blink Twice. I never thought that he was really a good actor. However, he gives Slater King so many layers that there are moments when I feel sympathy for him. Tatum makes King innocent, childish, childlike, and monstrous, and he can do all of that in the span of a minute.
Wow. I'm still stunned. I've wanted to see Blink Twice since it was first announced last year under the title, “Pussy Island,” but I never thought I'd get this nearly perfect film, a film so good that its flaws seem like artistic choices rather than mistakes. I heartily recommend this to movie fans looking for great films in a time when the various movie factories seem determined to only deliver entertainment that dare not make a statement lest “middle America” take offense. Blink Twice is both – tremendous cinematic art and delightfully good entertainment.
10 of 10
Saturday, August 24, 2024
The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.
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