by Victoria Alexander
A confident directorial debut by Kravitz but I’ll accept the wrath by saying the truth: why did Kravitz make every cast member intentionally ugly? So no one can take anything away from the star or her shadow presence as director?
Frida (Naomie Ackie) and her roommate Jess (Alia Shawkat) work as waitresses for a catering company. Their latest job is for a fundraising event for tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum) charity. King had publicly admitted in an apology video for his unnamed “inappropriate” behavior. King says he is going to spend some time at his isolated island in therapy and reflection.
Regardless of King’s admission, he is still a star entrepreneur, and Frida and Jess slip into the after-party. Frida trips and falls during the party and King helps her get up. It’s a standard trope in movies called “meeting cute.”
King invites Frida and Jess to join his entourage for a week’s vacation on his private, remote island.
Frida and Jess jump on the private plane and find the paradise island seems ready for their arrival. There are clothes, swimsuits, and everything is extravagantly provided. Especially the drugs. King’s male friends are Vic (Christian Slater), Cody (Simon Rex), Tom (Haley Joel Osment and Lucas (Levon Hawke). The other ladies on the plane are a reality star, Sarah (Adria Arjona), Camilla (Liz Caribel), and Heather (Trew Mullen).
All of the guys have one common trait – no one will voluntarily have sex with them. These are King’s intimate friends? The women are random pick-ups.
Also on the island is King’s assistant, Stacy (Geena Davis), his security man, Stan (Cris Costa), his therapist, Rich (Kyle MacLachian) and a weird snake handler maid (Maria Elena Olivares).
This large group of revelers are all smoking weed and cigarettes constantly. But only one person, Jess, has a cigarette lighter! Assistant Stacy, who lights all the hundreds of candles every evening, must know how to start a fire with a stick and kindle.
Why did the co-screenwriters, director Kravitz and E.T. Feigenbaum, create the awful character of Stacy? Why did Davis take the part? Did Davis refuse direction and just over-acted shamelessly? Davis must have said to herself, ‘I only have a few little scenes, but damn it, I will be noticed!’
As soon as we know Jess’s cigarette lighter is the only lighter in L.A. and on the island, we know it’s a “tell” as silly as that is. Is a cigarette lighter a trend now?
King seems to be favoring Frida which makes Sarah jealous. Is there a cat fight looming ahead?
King shows Frida an exotic flower that only grows on the island. The flower is the basis for a perfume made on the island. Somehow the flower is making its way into the food and drink. A psychedelic trance becomes a nightly event with dancing and more drugs making all the ladies wildly happy and remembering nothing the next day.
Shawkat endures the worst hairdo in a 2024 film – so far. Rex wears 2 tampons in his nostrils and Mullen suffers in a bad big wig. I hope Ackie did not see playbacks of how the cinematographer lit her.
King rules an island of unattractive guests.
Even though there are traces of unusual ticks that suggest something is amiss, none of the women have any indication that anything sexual happened to them: Bruises, stains on white clothes, dirty fingernails and feet, and snake bites? It’s a jungle paradise, things happen!
When Jess vanishes and all that is left is her cigarette lighter, Frida finds no one can even recall a guest named Jess. But her name is on the only lighter on the island!
It’s the weird snake-handling maid that gives Frida an unusual nickname and offers her a vile drink. Somehow, the snake venom brew brings memories back about what is really happening on the island. Does Frida decline eating and drinking because the women may be drugged by a memory-erasing potion?
The snake venom drink is the antidote! The snake-handling maid is the heroine of the island. Did she volunteer the antidote because King refused to give her a raise?
Realizing that something is horribly wrong, what can Frida and her now confidante Sarah, do? How the hell will they get off the island?
The worm turns and BLINK TWICE quickly becomes a vengeful, bloodletting circus. Kravitz handles these scenes without giving Frida and Sarah a moment of hesitation. Hell, no!
And the ending? A perfect denouement.
The wisdom of BLINK TWICE is this: Never go on anyone’s private plane to their private island.
Kravitz shows a skillful understanding of tension and the clear manipulation of the elitism of the rich taking advantage of lesser-blessed-by-God fame-seekers.
Kravitz gives Tatum a fascinating character to play, moving from charming and thoughtful to a raging psychopath. Tatum’s career needed BLINK TWICE.
If asked, even psychopaths will blame their childhoods.
The ALL is Mind; The Universe is Mental.” Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer Critic. For a complete list of Victoria Alexander's movie reviews on Rotten Tomatoes go to:
Contributing to:FilmsInReview: http://www.filmsinreview.com
Member of Las Vegas Film Critics Society
Personal email: victoria.alexander.lv@gmail.com
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