‘Blink Twice’: Zoë Kravitz’s Merciless Getaway Thriller Eats Superrich Tech Bros With Sinister Style

Alci Rengifo

Do not trust the superrich when they invite you on a private getaway. This is now a common narrative used by several filmmakers to forewarn all the plebs that elites do as they please. Horror thrillers are at least keeping the message fun. Zoë Kravitz assumes the director’s chair in this spirit for “Blink Twice,” a rather scattered but charged thriller. This is Kravitz’s directorial debut and it announces her as a filmmaker with a great eye. She comes out swinging at glossy tech tycoons, misogyny, public apologies and the ways of the wealthy. It is the dynamic approach that works best. Despite the moments where clarity is lacking, Kravitz never drags.

“Blink Twice” starts by taking aim at the cultural obsession with rich bad boys. We first meet Frida (Naomi Ackie) as she sits on a toilet watching a video of tech tycoon Slater King (Channing Tatum) apologizing for some mysterious public slip up. Fate smiles upon Frida when she locks eyes with Slater while waitressing at a lavish fundraising event. Before the evening is over, he invites her to come along with a group to his private island. What for? Does Frida need to care? Frida’s best friend, Jess (Alia Shawkat), also tags along. The place is expectedly gorgeous with private rooms for everyone. Locals and workers look Latin and walk around with eerie smiles. Sumptuous dinners are served at night by Slater’s friend, Cody (Simon Rex). Soon enough, the façade begins to crack when Jess goes missing and Frida can’t make sense of bruises on her body that she can’t account for.

As with many new films of this type, the first and obvious inspiration is Jordan Peele’s “Get Out.” Aside from the blueprint of a glossy locale hiding terrors, the Peele influence is strong in Kravitz making what amounts to a very expensive B-movie. The characters are clichés though not in a negative way. Kravitz and co-writer E.T. Feigenbaum are populating the island with the “influencer” faces we run across on Instagram. Sarah (Adria Arjona) claims fame from having been on a survivalist reality show. She also wants Slate’s attention, turning her into a potential rival of Frida. A maid (María Elena Olivares) keeps saying a cryptic phrase over and over, while making strange brews out of the venom of local snakes. Around Slater, his circle of bros can be pretentious or creepy, like Vic (Christian Slater), who looks like he would be on the Epstein flight logs. These are archetypes Kravitz appears to be using as commentaries on misogyny. While Channing Tatum is a tanned gym machine, Kyle MacLachlan, Haley Joel Osment and Levon Hawke play acolytes and guests who could pass as “nice guys” out in the real world.

As an actor, Kravitz has worked with some of the top directors of the last few years, in both major indies and blockbusters. She has obviously picked up much, that is evident in “Blink Twice.” Cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra’s framing can be voluptuous, yet is always energetic. The rich atmosphere, décor and sense of place help gloss over the story’s odder, half-baked elements. During the second act, it becomes easy to get lost in the plot once people go missing and much of the answers boil down to the use of snake venom. A smart choice was to make the runtime 1 hour and 43 minutes. Kravitz and editor Kathryn J. Schubert keep the film from getting too lost by never resorting to stretching it out for its own sake. A good, campy thriller works like comedy. You don’t want to kill the joke. 

Kravitz is aiming for something hard-hitting involving the violence of toxic masculinity, especially aimed at women of color. Her themes also keep “Blink Twice” motivated. The more sinister Slater starts to become, the less attractive his image of a successful tycoon feels. Tatum and Naomi Ackie are dynamic together. The former drips charm that soon stinks while the latter captures the grueling, physical tension of feeling in danger. It is easy for an actor like Tatum to get typecast. Here, he shows off his range in moments where he must evoke the frightening ego of men who feel they can do anything. When what he is really up to with his buddies on the island comes to light, Slater eases into a toxic beast, mocking the scrawny Lucas (Hawke) for really seeing himself as some innocent, nice guy who can just look. 

The final act of “Blink Twice” is both its most wildly entertaining and curiously weakest. Kravitz proves she can expertly film gore and satirical violence when Slater is found out. The vengeance that is let loose by Frida is gloriously grindhouse. This getaway can only close with a trail of bodies. Yet, the very final moments of this movie raise some curious ethical questions. The story’s final form of payback is the stuff out of a good “Twilight Zone” episode, but we are left wondering if it is the kind of ending this story deserves. If the point is to really hit hard at the abuses men do out of hubris and privilege, then should one of the heroes get payback by marrying what amounts to their own rapist? It is a bold move, for sure. Kravitz can at least not be accused of playing it safe. “Blink Twice” announces her as a director to keep an eye on and, most importantly of all, actually has something to say.

“Blink Twice” releases Aug. 23 in theaters nationwide.