Blink Twice: Nightmare drug trip overcomes pedestrian story.

⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

Rob Ryan

Even if you haven't seen the trailer, the set up for Blink Twice will already have you picturing of what's to come, a group of characters are invited to spend some time on Island or commune owned by a respected individual who can seemingly do no wrong, it all seems too good to be true but would you believe it, There's something sinister going on and all may not be what it seems. Its a tale as old as your basic murder mystery, recent examples of this concept include Glass Onion, the Knives Out Sequel, The Menu and Don't Worry Darling which is I feel this film is closer in spirit to. I go in expecting a pedestrian thriller with a simplistic structure and a predictable twist and while story wise it certainly is that, in terms of presentation, this film surprised me.

The movie stars Channing Tatum as a billionaire philanthropist named "Slater King" who has started to make his presence to the public again after a year away due to mistreatment of staff, his greatest admirer Frida (Naomi Ackie) watches his apology video on Instagram before heading of to be a waitress at his company dinner along side her roommate, Jess (Alia Shawkat) the two get dressed up for the after party and an accident involving a broken heel leads to Frida and Slater meeting properly and the two are accepted in Slater's circle of fellow entrepreneurs and their girlfriends. They are about to leave to hangout at Slaters Private island and before they can say yes they are on his private jet. They spend their days and nights partying with booze, drugs and games. Before you can properly take in the suspect images including a worker who kills the same breed of snake, the film whisks you away back to the partying.

The film is helmed by actor Zoë Kravitz who has been acting of 17 years and has taken that experience in front of the camera to good use, the first two to three acts play out like an escalating drug trip, where your perception of time is distorted, your senses are incredibly heightened, bits and pieces of memory become fragmented but everybody is having a good time so what's the big deal? The film has a lot of mileage out of its foley, in particular the sounds of people drinking, eating, screwing the cork out of a bottle to even the sounds of people bashing on a table. It's this style in presentation that effectively puts you in the shoes of its protagonist instead of keeping you at a distance which is why Don't Worry Darling failed at what it set out to do. The films chaotic foley design is more impactful when things come to light, even if we are not exactly surprised by the reveal, our emotions are still elevated thanks to its clever and meticulous use of sound and the believable cast.

Speaking of the cast wow! Gina Davis, Kyle MacLachlan, Hayley Joel Osment, Christian Slater, Simon Rex. Kravitz must be one of the most persuasive people in Hollywood if she's willing to cast them in this film. It could have risked feeling overstuffed but for the most part every role manages to be meaningful from the subtle interactions, the way everyone tries to out dominate the conversations to even managing to deliver some amusing moments of humour. But its Tatum and Ackie who really nail the target with their performances, Their chemistry throughout is perfect, the smooth transition from seemingly having a playful understanding of each other to antagonist vs protagonist is a brilliant achievement that can't be understated.

Had Blink Twice stuck the landing with its ending I would have been happy to call this a rare example of craftsmanship overcoming a basic story, but its the one other aspect that the film is the least successful in. Without spoiling, there is a shift in the power dynamics at play that is supposed to be a sort of "You see what we did there" "What would happen if the opposite happened?" Which feels like a contradictory message compared to the rest of the film considering the movie opens with a trigger warning with one of the examples being "imbalance of power dynamics" after powerfully displaying that concept, what good does it do to end with a flipped version of that other than to display a "Boss Girl" message that feels in sharp contrast to everything else? A more honest ending would have that cycle be properly broken, It would have been a more satisfying resolution and would've given the film a perfect sense of closure. Instead I was left feeling confused and puzzled at the choice in conclusion.

But despite this, the movie works overall. If not as an unpredictable plot boiler but an engrossing drug trip that increasingly gets more disturbing and visceral as it goes along. It would be interesting to see what Kravitz does with a more original and tight screenplay. Even with a bad script I feel she can do something interesting with regards to perspective, editing and sound that elevate the story in ways that most people wouldn't consider before. Inspite of its few shortcomings, Blink Twice is an impressive debut.