Blink Twice

This weekend, Blink Twice, a new thriller by Zoe Kravitz, releases in theaters. Blink Twice follows cocktail waitress, Frida and her friend as they journey to a tech billionaire's island for a weekend retreat. They soon discover that things may not be what they seem and must develop a plan to escape. I knew very little about this movie going in other than the basic premise and that Channing Tatum was in it. The trailer gave me Don't Worry Darling and Midsommar vibes so I was at least curious to see how the movie would go.

I thought this movie turned out decent enough. Zoe Kravitz does a great job of portraying a sort of unease throughout the movie. We see these girls on this luxury island but can feel in the background that something is just not quite right. The movie does a good job of balancing the humor with the thrilling aspects. Several moments make you laugh but they don't undercut any of the intense moments that happen. The movie also has a hint of mystery to it as these girls are trying to figure out what is going on on this island. There are hints throughout the movie that lead to the fact that things are not what they seem and I thought the movie did a great job of incorporating that. I thought Channing Tatum was a standout in the movie. I'm used to him in more comedic roles but this movie plays against that as he is this more dark and mysterious character. I also thought the twist and payoff at the end of the movie were well done. In the last couple of movies I've seen like this, I always thought the twist was dumb and kind of ruined the movie. I thought that the twist in this movie actually worked and made sense. A good twist makes you see the whole movie in a new light and this one does that. Finally, I thought about the way that Frida's motivations for going to the island were explained. Common sense would tell you that she shouldn't go to an isolated island with strange men just meant. But as the movie shows her character, we learn that she just wants to be seen and feel like a person which sometimes can cause logic to be ignored as these guys were providing that. Evidently, things do not go that way, but the initial motivation makes her seem less stupid.

One of the issues I had in the movie was that the twist caused a few plot holes to open up that were never resolved. There is a direction they took for one of the male characters that makes sense from a messaging standpoint but in the context of the story, his storyline kind of makes no sense. Another issue is that the twist may be a bit too disturbing for some people. I wasn't too put off by it it definitely is going to be something that you'll either be able to get on board with or be completely put off and feel it crosses a line. I can't go into more details without getting into spoiler territory.

In the end, this was a solid enough little island thriller. While it does still have some plot holes and a questionable ending, I thought the movie achieved what it was going for. I'm curious to see what kind of movie Zoe Kravitz will do next.

Score: 7/10 Grade: B Recommendation: Check it out if you like these types of thrillers