Film review: ‘BLINK TWICE’ by Nick Gardener from ‘Built For Speed’
The eccentric, super rich tech entrepreneur has become a strange 21st Century icon. It should come as no surprise that one should figure as the central character in an oddball Hollywood movie. Writer/ director Zoe Kravitz’ darkly comic, at times disturbing but derivative and underweight mystery thriller Blink Twice, features one such figure in a story that has creepy resonances with a highly controversial case involving an infamous rich white guy.
Channing Tatum plays tech billionaire Slater King who, after various controversies, has decamped to a private island. There, like a kind of modern-day Gatsby, he hosts friends and people he has picked up along the way in what seem to be luxurious bacchanalian weekends of fine food, expensive liqueurs and potent psychedelics. One of his latest guests is the waitress Frida (Naomie Ackie from Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody) who seems infatuated with him. Along with her friend Jess (Alia Shawkat) she enjoys all the indulgent luxuries the island has to offer. Little by little, though, strange unexplained events including mysterious injuries and alarming fragmented memories tell her that all may not be as it seems in this paradise and that something decidedly sinister may be occurring.
For audiences, the film triggers fragmented memories for a slew of recent films including that other tale of an outsider entering a world of hedonistic privilege, Saltburn. Also, with its unusual, vividly stylised look and unsettling mix of violence and offbeat humour, Blink Twice at times recalls the work of Jordan Peele, especially Get Out. While that is in many ways a good thing, especially aesthetically, like Peele’s films, Blink Twice offers more than it delivers. At first, it seems to be dragging us down a very intriguing rabbit hole with hallucinogenic flourishes that are as disorienting for us as the trippy drug-fuelled dinner parties are for King’s guests. Also, while the film’s central mystery is confronting and touches on vital issues of gender and power, in the end the plot feels a little thin and what seems like a highly inventive story eventually gives way to Hollywood thriller conventions. A twist at one point should have been highly satisfying but feels contrived and probably would have worked better in a Twilight Zone-style mystery tv series.
The film benefits, though, from two strong central performances with Naomi Ackie sympathetic, believably flawed but heroic as Frida and Mr. Tatum switching effectively between charmingly goofy and unnervingly creepy as Slater King. The film also includes iconic faces of cinema’s recent past with Christian Slater, Geena Davis, Kyle McLachlan and Hayley Joel Osment. They’re not given a lot to do but their distinctive presence gives the film added spark.
While it feels a little underdone and requires some pretty huge leaps of logic, Blink Twice manages to intrigue, shock and leave us contemplating the dangers of power imbalances and of people who play God.
Nick’s rating: ***
Genre: Thriller/ Mystery.
Classification: MA15+.
Director(s): Zoe Kravitz.
Release date: 22nd Aug 2024.
Running time: 102 mins.
Reviewer: Nick Gardener can be heard on “Built For Speed” every Friday night from 8-10pm on 88.3 Southern FM.