Blink Twice (2024) * * *

 

Directed by:  Zoe Kravitz

Starring:  Channing Tatum, Naomi Ackie, Haley Joel Osment, Kyle MacLachlan, Simon Rex, Liz Caribel, Adria Arjona, Geena Davis, Levon Hawke, Christian Slater

While watching Blink Twice, I found it disturbing and off-kilter, but I was never bored or disinterested.  As suspense was building, I was wondering what the hell I was watching, but my mind was engaged.  It brought about a reaction, which means it was working for me on some level.  

Blink Twice stars Channing Tatum as Slater King, a tech billionaire on a media apology tour for undisclosed abuses of power, which are likely sexual in nature.  Despite his ickiness, waitress Frida (Ackie) likes him enough to want to meet him following a party she's working in which he attends.  The seemingly kind Slater takes a shine to Frida and invites her and her friend to his island paradise along with his male friends and their female companions.   The time at the island is one big party of swimming, dinners at night, drinking, and drugs.  But, something is...off.   Slater asks Frida often whether she's having a good time, others take Polaroids, and Slater's sister and manager (Davis), acts as if this is something she is far too familiar with. 

I'll tread lightly not to reveal plot twists, but director Zoe Kravitz creates an eerie atmosphere which plays like a nightmare where parts don't fit and drug-induced visions may conceal a darker truth.  Meanwhile, we ask whether Slater is truly reformed.  He seems attentive and repentant for past indiscretions, and is gentle with Frida, but again, he is just...off.   We are used to seeing Tatum play heroes, but in Blink Twice he masterfully gives off sinister vibes in keeping with the movie he's in.  Will Blink Twice cause debate?  Sure, but then that reflects that it isn't simply a #MeToo story or a take on the movement, but something deeper.