BLINK TWICE works best on the premise that the less you know going in, the better. It also starts with an important content/trigger warning telling viewers that the film contains scenes of sexual violence and assault. BLINK TWICE is not the best film I’ve seen this year, but it’s a satisfying thriller about an important subject, which has led me to give it the highest of our review emojis.
From first-time director and writer Zoë Kravitz, whom you may know from her acting career in THE BATMAN, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, and more, BLINK TWICE is a movie about a horrific subject matter, but I don’t consider it a horror film. While it has notes of SALTBURN, GLASS ONION, and GET OUT, it’s still an incredibly original and timely story. It’s particularly relevant at a time when a wealthy man is running for President, one that a judge ruled DID rape a woman and was additionally convicted of 34 counts of fraud stemming from the time he used campaign funds to pay off an adult film actress he was cheating on his 3rd wife with.
BLINK TWICE feels almost like 3 films in one, which is part of why it works. Act one launches into the lives of Frida & Jess, roommates who also work a catering job together but long to have more glamorous lives. Kravitz’s writing and directing make the audience feel swept away by the allure of the rich and famous. It teases us to “come on a little adventure”. It reminded me of Felix inviting Oliver to his family home in SALTBURN. Acts 2 & 3 couldn’t be more different than introducing these pretty people – a strong cast led by Kravitz’s fiance, Channing Tatum, Naomi Acki (from 2023’s White Houston biopic), and Alia Shawkat. When the terror begins to creep in, you may deny it’s happening. But how can this seemingly perfect vacation seem so off?
In the last few months, I’ve seen the BLINK TWICE trailer a few times before other films, which ignited my interest. I also really liked the idea of Kravitz as a first-time feature writer/director. It’s important to me to support women-led films since they’re so few and far between. But I truly had no idea what I was getting myself into. And even when the layers of deceit that Kravitz has so expertly written into the story start to peel away, my thoughts were at war with one another. The cynic in me said “Of course” and the optimist said “No way”. Thinking as someone who could get caught up in a situation like this, I realized that these are the types of thoughts victims tell themselves as well when dealing with this type of trauma. It’s hard to believe until it isn’t. And while BLINK TWICE takes the gruesome details to an almost unfathomable level, perhaps that’s what is needed to get people to pay attention to the truth.
BLINK TWICE is currently playing exclusively in theatres.
