Warning: Spoilers Ahead!
“Blink Twice” is a psychological thriller movie directed by Zoe Kravitz. It is about a young woman named Frida who gets invited with her friend to vacation with a billionaire tech giant named Slater King on his own island. However, everything isn’t exactly what it seems, as Frida slowly realizes she is in a tropical hell.
Starring Channing Tatum and Naomi Ackie, this movie will have you wanting to look away and watch the horrors unfold at the same time.
Channing Tatum, Zoe Kravitz’s fiancé, makes his horror debut as Slater King. He delivers an intense performance of the character, and even manages to still be naturally funny due to his past performances in comedies such as the “21 Jump Street” movies.
We have never seen Tatum star in a horror movie before, but after today, the audience can clearly see that he was right for the role; his good looks and our image of him as a comedy actor makes the sheer evil he presents in the film much more startling to the audience.
Starring as the female lead is Naomi Ackie, an up-and-coming actress who has starred in a handful of movies. In this movie, she comes off as a clumsy fan girl who’s obsessed with a rich and handsome entrepreneur.
As the movie progresses she slowly reels us in deeper into her performance as this woman whose only wish is to forget her troubled past. But by the end of the movie she realizes that forgetting the past doesn’t mean it never happened, and that by forgetting the past it allows you to become vulnerable to recreating it.
Zoe Kravitz did a great job directing this movie, always making sure the audience is two or three steps back from knowing what’s really going on. The suspense in this film will have you on the edge of your seat, eagerly trying to figure out what the next move is. By positioning the camera into the perspective of our main character we are only allowed to see what she sees. There is never a scene without her in it.
The scenery of the island in the movie is beautiful, with burgundy flowers and bright green trees surrounding the Spanish-style mansion. A massive turquoise pool sits in the backyard, and drinks are ever-flowing. Many vibrant colors were used in the set design and not a single object was dull or neutral, making you feel like you could step out onto the grass, and lie down with a cocktail in your hand.
Overall, this movie is a must see for audiences that are into horror or psychological thrillers. It’s such an intense movie that there is a trigger warning placed on the big screen before each showing of the film.
After stepping out of the theaters, I wish I could’ve had a second screening, since a large amount of the movie could be analyzed and broken down to reach the sole message. One interesting thing about the movie is that there was a lot of symbolism represented throughout the movie by animals. With snakes being used to represent the pain of knowing the truth, and perfume to represent the cloud of blissful ignorance to what is important.
One of the main questions that the movie brings up is: Would you rather be ignorant of the bad things happening and live in bliss or would you rather face the sobering reality of what life has to offer?
Depending on how strong of an individual you are, will determine your answer to the question. In the end the one tip to definitely take away from this is never go on a billionaire’s island.
