Blink Twice – REVIEW

Channing Tatum and Naomi Ackie in Blink Twice


We’ve been in an interesting era for pop culture and how we deal with consequences for our actions, and I’m surprised that there really hasn’t been a horror movie that doesn’t directly attack the mentions of “cancel culture” and things like that. Well, at least ones that don’t come off as preachy. Blink Twice really doesn’t come off as preachy in most parts, but it’s practically tackling “cancel culture” head on. Naomi Ackie plays Frida, a cocktail waitress at tech billionaire Slater King’s annual gala. He invites Frida and her friend, Jess, to his private island with his buddies for a dream vacation, where something sinister begins to creep in. It’s not exactly subtle with what it’s trying to say, but maybe it’s best to use a hammer rather than a pair of scissors for this topic. Blink Twice is very much a thriller in the vein of Get Out or even Don’t Worry, Darling (a movie I like quite a bit), with the first half being a very accomplished, eerie thriller that’s held down by Ackie and Alia Shawkat. That being said, all of the performances here are great throughout. Channing Tatum as King, the controversial billionaire, is genuinely terrifying. I’d love to see him take on more roles like this, he certainly has the chops for it. My personal favorites out of the rest of the cast are Shawkat as Frida’s friend Jess, Adria Arjona as Sarah, a reality show star, along with Christian Slater and Haley Joel Osment as some of King’s little cronies. Kyle MacLachlan is unfortunately underused as King’s therapist, but it’s always nice to see him. As much as the acting holds up, the tone shift to something more action-oriented in the second half really kneecaps Blink Twice, especially when the first half is so engrossing when paired with the great performances from Ackie and Tatum. I’m not going to spoil anything about the contents of the movie, but when you’re dealing with content this depraved, I don’t think that leaning into cheesy one-liners is the right way to go. In my copy, there was a trigger warning for the graphic content in Blink Twice, and while I do appreciate it, it’s mainly shown in the second half, completely out of line with this new tone. That did sit with me the wrong way, but the sentiment that writer/director Zoë Kravitz seemingly has throughout the film feels like it’s going in the right place. Honestly, it might just be the fact that this is Kravitz’s directorial debut, as well as her first screenplay credit, so I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt. Tatum, however, has an incredible moment close to the end of the film that comes real close to making the tone shift all worth it. Blink Twice is a bit more of a mixed bag than I was hoping, but the performances and that sinister first half make it worth a go. If you watch it, though, just take that trigger warning seriously.


Ryan’s Grade: B-