Review: The twists and turns are all too familiar in “Blink Twice”

By Jay Collura     9/3/24 11:04pm

Score: ★★½

It’s hard to say much about “Blink Twice,” Zoë Kravitz’s (“The Batman”) directorial debut, without giving it all away. The film follows a pair of women (Naomi Ackie, Alia Shawkat) invited on an impromptu vacation on a creepy private island by an even creepier tech billionaire (Channing Tatum). The film, a solid debut feature, has quite a bit going for itself, or at least enough juice for me not to spoil the surprises. But what I can say is that if you have seen a thriller, nothing in “Blink Twice” will blow you away.

The chief frustration in the film is familiarity. Every beat of the story feels expected, and every moment where the tension should rise is something I have seen before. Startling music cues, sudden disappearances, eerie hospitality–these are all fundamental concepts the thriller genre has had for a long time. The issue is not their use but rather the incorporation–the first two acts of the film feel like a back-to-back sequence of tropes rather than an immersive, dread-inducing progression.

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Somewhat unflatteringly, the two films that “Blink Twice” most frequently evoked were “Glass Onion” and “Get Out.” The former film is mostly a superficial comparison - the island setting and satirical elements of the film felt very similar to Rian Johnson’s portrayal of modern tech wealth in his “Knives Out” sequel. “Get Out,” on the other hand, felt like the foundation on which “Blink Twice”’s script was built. The snippets of humor, the premise, and how the film delivers social commentary feel lifted straight from Jordan Peele’s debut. This is not a problem inherently, as “Blink Twice” tackles issues of gender and class in a way “Get Out” does not. But once I figured out this similarity, the thrill part of the thriller was lost on me, as I knew what twists and turns were ahead.

What did keep me engaged, and what made the film worth watching, was the cast. The lead, Naomi Ackie, communicates a great range of subtle sadness and warm delight that erupts into anguish as the film continues. This contrasts sharply with Channing Tatum, portraying Slater King, the tech billionaire. Tatum gives the character a chilling sternness, creating a distinct lack of empathy even in the face of rising emotion. This emptiness complements his character’s arc wonderfully and, more importantly, creates a lot of the tension and eeriness that may have been lost in the archetypal nature of the script. The supporting cast is also great–Adria Arjona continues to impress after this summer’s “Hit Man”, and Simon Rex, Haley Joel Osment, Kyle MacLachlan, and Christian Slater all provide a layer of both creepiness and stupidity that match the satirical aspirations of the film.

With this cast punching above the weight of the script, “Blink Twice” became incredibly watchable as a thriller, even if I knew exactly what to expect. The film does just enough satire and social commentary, even if neither is particularly original.. Kravitz’s direction is clearly talented, as the cast and the visual direction of the film are excellent, but the film never quite electrified in the way it clearly wanted to. 

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