James Berardinelli review - *** out of ****

https://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/blink-twice

Blink Twice is a deliciously nasty “refrigerator film” – a psychological thriller that holds viewers spellbound while in the theater (even if certain plot elements fall apart upon later reflection – say, for example, when getting a snack from the refrigerator later that night). The assured debut of actor-turned-director Zoe Kravitz, the movie is unafraid of going places that caused distributor Amazon MGM to include a trigger warning. Although Blink Twice starts out seeming like a gauzy fantasy, it doesn’t take long for it to begin traveling into nightmare territory.

Channing Tatum has a likeable screen presence and that’s one key to the film’s success. We want to believe his character, tech mogul Slater King, when he admits guilt to an abuse of power, steps away from his position, asks for forgiveness, and says he has become a changed man. Is it any wonder that cocktail waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie) finds herself infatuated with him when she works his swanky charity dinner party? The attraction is apparently mutual because, after spending parts of the evening with her, Slater impulsively invites Frida and her best friend, Jess (Alia Shawkat), to attend an exclusive party on his personal island. The invitees include three other women – Sarah (Adria Arjona), Camilla (Liz Caribel), and Heather (Trew Mullen) – and four other men – Vic (Christian Slater), Cody (Simon Rex), Tom (Haley Joel Osment), and Lucas (Levon Hawke). It’s all about eating, drinking, lounging in the sun, taking drugs, and (presumably) sex, although there seems to be surprisingly little in the way of overt physicality. (Anyone else get a Midsommer vibe?) Or is there? Memories become fuzzy. Stains on clothing mysteriously vanish. Unexplained bruises materialize. Then, when Jess senses something is “wrong” with the island and/or the guests, she disappears. But no one else remembers her being there in the first place. Is Frida being gaslit or is there something more invidious going on?

Movies like this typically follow an easily recognizable template and, although there are plenty of familiar tropes to be found in Blink Twice, the screenplay, co-credited to Kravitz an E.T. Feigenbaum, isn’t afraid to venture a little off the beaten path and throw in a twist or two. The movie also goes into some pretty dark, demented places, making it understandable why Amazon MGM elected to put up the trigger warning. There is a feminist bent here but it’s not overdone to the point of distracting from the narrative. The #MeToo echoes in the screenplay are kept in the subtext. This is first and foremost a thriller featuring a female protagonist and a male predator. When you think about it, that’s not especially unusual in the genre.

Kravitz has assembled an eclectic cast replete with familiar names from the ‘80s and ‘90s to go along with fresher faces. Channing Tatum, with his charisma shining at full wattage, presents Slater as every woman’s dream-man before gradually allowing viewers a peek into what lies beneath. His demented uttering of the refrain “I’m sorry” is as nutty as when Jack Nicholson parodied “Here’s Johnny!” in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. (As gossip columns have noted, Kravitz and Tatum fell in love during pre-production and were an item by the time filming was completed.) Tatum is joined by the likes of Christian Slater and Haley Joel Osment, with smaller roles given to Kyle MacLachlan and Geena Davis. Naomi Ackie, probably best known for playing the title role in Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody, effectively navigates a character whose mercurial nature is a key plot element. Adria Arjona, who was terrific as Glenn Powell’s love interest/foil in Hit Man, adds another interesting role to an increasingly impressive filmography.

Blink Twice morphs its tone effortlessly without causing viewer whiplash. The mildly euphoric first act shifts to amplify mystery elements during the middle third. And, while aspects of the final 40 minutes don’t necessarily play out as expected, Kravitz ratchets up the tension. The end result is a collage of Hitchcockian elements baked into a story with a more graphic approach than anything the Master of Suspense ever achieved. (Although, at the time, Psycho was deemed shocking.) Perhaps the most unimpressive thing about Blink Twice is the title (it was originally called Pussy Island but the MPA objected), which makes the movie sound like a second-rate horror film. And, although one could argue there are horror elements to be found, the production is anything but second-rate.