Originally called Pussy Island, a title that may have given the game away, Blink Twice on the surface seems like one of those glitzy mystery thrillers with hot cast and story that is expected to be full of twists. Not to say Blink Twice isn’t this, but even from the release of the trailer, there is a darker undercurrent running through this shiny film. With Zoe Kravitz in the director’s chair, she goes full force in her directorial debut, willing to show grim truths, no sugar coating and showing that this film won’t be a one from her.
At an exclusive event held by billionaire tech mogul, Slater King, two friends Frida and Jess who are part of the catering staff, decide to crash the party. Subsequentially getting invited to Slater’s private island with a group of his associates. The island is paradise, followed by amazing dinners, wild partying on repeat for several days. But when Jess asks to leave, disturbed by something, Frida begs her to stay a little while longer. However, by the next day Jess is missing and no one remembers her even being there.
What feels like a ‘Lady Vanishes’ type plot very quickly spirals out to be a far more sinister yet basic plot. Not necessarily a negative thing but the disturbing element is more than just a missing person. As Frida connects pieces of a puzzle that actually began the moment she arrived, some might theorise even before that, we watch her going from having the time of her life to literally surviving through hell. At the core, Blink Twice is a deep disturbing thriller that unfortunately surprises no women, when it comes to the behaviour of men. The light exploration into trauma and the discussion around reliving trauma and whether its better to forget is an interesting element to the film but it barely scratches the surface of the subject.
The cast assembled is impressive and everyone makes their mark on screen, but the stand outs here are most definitely Naomi Ackie as Frida, our guide bringing us into this hellscape and Adria Arjona as Sarah, former reality TV star and who equally finds herself in a unbelievable situation.
Blink Twice is a welcome addition to the long list of films with the theme of ‘eat the rich’, even if it presents itself slightly differently. For a directorial debut its impressive and as thriller mysteries go, its highly entertaining.