Forgetting is a gift. Blink Twice is the directorial debut from perpetually cool starlet Zoe Kravitz. And it is quite a strong first outing. Blink Twice centers on two young women played by Naomi Ackie and Alia Shawkat who voluntarily accompany gorgeous tech billionaire Slater King to his private island. During their trip they sip champagne, do recreational drugs, and slowly begin to realize maybe not everything happening on the island is voluntary or consensual.

Blink Twice deals with a lot of heavy themes like power dynamics and sexual assault. The film deals with these themes in a refreshing way and from a female perspective. Blink Twice isn’t the first film to tackle this subject matter, but it does so with a grace and style that few films have done in the past.

Trigger Warning

An odd note on Kravitz’s new film. The movie begins with a trigger warning right up front before the film starts in earnest. The theater I attended for the showing also had this trigger plastered on several walls throughout. Trigger Warnings have become something of a controversial subject in the past few years with articles and youtube videos proudly proclaiming the warning in an edgelord sort of fashion. The usefulness of these warnings has also come under scrutiny but it’s utilized here in a way that doesn’t feel exploitative. Many view trigger warnings as a marketing tactic, the same way horror films would highlight the number of walkouts or protests their film garnered. That isn’t the case here but it is still an odd way to start a film and one I haven’t seen utilized before.

Fault and Forget

Power dynamics and the sins of those who wield power is a major theme in Blink Twice but just as important is the theme of forgiving and forgetting. In a post me too era, it’s not uncommon to see major and minor celebrities asking for forgiveness from their fans for past transgressions. This film begins with Slater King played by the devilishly handsome Channing Tatum doing just that. He is sorry for his wrongs and he is seeking help. His wrongs are never fully explained, but he is apparently sorry and working to get better.

The film never totally explores his previous sins but it does posit that people don’t really change. Awful people are always awful, they will just find new ways to carry out their depraved fantasies. It’s not a theme I totally agree with, but I’m happy to see the film follow through and fully realize its theme throughout the movie’s brisk 102-minute runtime. The 2022 film Triangle of Sadness also brought up some interesting and heady themes but ultimately ended on a strange cliffhanger that refused to realize the two competing themes the film presented. Here that is not the case as the movie is strong in its convictions and delivers on every theme it presents.

Are You Having a Good Time?

One true standout in Blink Twice is the acting talent Kravitz and her team assembled. The women on the island are all gorgeous bathed in pure white throughout the day while the men are as slippery and slimey as they come. Even before the film starts to reveal its twist you get the sense that these men are despicable slimeballs. Haley Joel Osment, Christian Slater, and Simon Rex are just a few of the deplorable men littering the island and they are fantastic in their understated subtext-filled roles.

The real stars though are the women with Naomi Ackie and Adria Arjona perfecting the revenge-seeking trope. Zoe Kravitz shoots these women with such respect for their characters which stands in stark contrast to the way they are oggled by the men of the island. For a film with such lurid subject matter, the camera is always incredibly respectful to the women on film. Even the more violent scenes that garnered a trigger warning are shot in a way that doesn’t minimize the violence but also doesn’t exploit it. Don’t worry there is plenty of blood and gore, but the camera refuses to fetishize the dark secrets of Slater King’s Island.

Time and Cinemetagrophy

A major plot point of Blink Twice is the women losing track of time and forgetting key events. The film portrays this with quick cuts and fast scene transitions that continually get more and more jarring as the movie progresses. Blink Twice also gives the audience subtle hints of items to keep an eye out for. As an audience memberthe film gives us the same sense of time dilation felt by the women in the film with us losing track of items and women throughout their time on the island. It’s a masterful trick and done beautifully here by the debut director.

Blink Twice is a twisty thriller that keeps the audience guessing even when we already have a pretty good idea of what is happening on the island. Even when we think we have everything figured out, the film throws us a few more twists that have been hinted at the entire time. Each reveal never feels unearned or outside the realm of the film’s scope. It all culminates in a spectacular ending that makes the audience feel uneasy about the outcome. Blink Twice raises a lot of heady themes, realizes them all, and delivers them in a fun and twisty package. Blink Twice is a great film and I can’t wait to see what Zoe Kravitz does next. It also has hands down the coolest title card I’ve ever seen in a film. Dont blink or you’ll miss it