Blink Twice

Zoë Kravitz transitions from actress to writer-director-producer on Blink Twice, a stylish and trippy thriller that clearly hails from a creative voice we haven’t heard before.

Our protagonist Frida (Naomi Ackie, who filled the title role in Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody) seems a touch obsessed with Slater King (Channing Tatum), a tech mogul billionaire who’s repeatedly requested the world’s forgiveness for unspecified transgressions. Part of the wait staff for a lavish gala that King’s corporation is throwing, Frida decides to throw caution to the wind and crash the upscale gathering with her friend/roommate/partner in financial struggle, Jess (Alia Shawkat). A broken heel and cut hand later, Frida catches not only King’s eye but a spontaneous invitation to his remote private island for an intimate retreat.

The working-class Frida and Jess have their eyes opened by everything they encounter on King’s island. Their cell phones are collected. The white Grecian dresses they’re given fit perfectly and look great. Their champagne glasses are never empty. The guests include a mix of rich, semi-famous, and glamorous people, like winning reality TV contestant Sarah (Adria Arjona), a TV actor on an all-egg diet (Haley Joel Osment), and a charismatic man missing a pinky finger (Christian Slater).

Between the haute meals made exclusively from what’s on the island, the non-stop stream of alcohol, and drops of liquid MDMA, time blurs and reality bends for Frida, whom one staff worker disarmingly recognizes as “Red Rabbit.” When Jess is bitten by a snake and Frida gets a taste of its venom, it starts to become clear that all is not what it seems on this idyllic getaway.

Oftentimes, when an actor steps behind the camera, you can identify the experience or collaboration that led them there. Kravitz, the daughter of musician Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet, has been acting since 2007 and with no shortage of high-profile credits, including X-Men: First Class, Mad Max: Fury Road, the Fantastic Beasts and Divergent franchises, the HBO series “Big Little Lies”, and, most recently, Matt Reeves’ hit The Batman. None of those works provides the right set of expectations for Blink Twice, which Kravitz and co-writer E.T. Feigenbaum originally called Pussy Island.

This is a picturesque production whose small cast is full of accomplished and well-connected individuals. They include Geena Davis, picking up a now rare film role as Slater’s personal assistant; Kyle MacLachlan, who has a hand in the film’s new title as Slater’s therapist; Red Rocket‘s Simon Rex as Slater’s chef; and Kravitz’ fellow nepo baby Levon Hawke, son of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman. That assembly of talent along with an unreported but clearly not inconsequential budget imbue the project with confidence and some commercial hopes. Not many first-time directors get such an accommodating debut, but Kravitz does a pretty good job of justifying her privilege and hiding her inexperience.

There is not a lot you can discuss about the plot without wandering into spoiler territory, but suffice it to say that there is some substance to go along with the style. You’re never sure where this is headed and there’s a good chance you’re underwhelmed by the destination. Still, the journey there comes with vibrant compositions, taut editing, and the joy of discovering a new voice with something to say.

Tatum, the director’s fiancé, gets to stretch his acting chops in a way he hasn’t since Foxcatcher a decade ago. While his head fills the one-sheet, his influence over the subversive narrative does not require a lion’s share of screentime. Ackie is more than adequate in her first lead role since her Whitney Houston biopic landed quietly. It’s more fun to see such disparate, storied careers come together here than in the Rian Johnson Knives Out mysteries this sort of resembles.

I expect Blink Twice to be polarizing with audiences and, as mature, provocative adult-oriented fare, disappointing to financiers in wide theatrical release. But Amazon MGM was able to get the similarly challenging Saltburn into the collective conscience quite quickly with a hasty Prime release and perhaps this could do the same. Kravitz may not have such creative freedoms and perks again, but it seems most unlikely that her foray into writing-directing-producing would be a one-time adventure.