Movie Review: Blink Twice

Quick Recap

A young lady, Frida, who's trying to find herself, jets off on the adventure of a lifetime with a tech billionaire to his luxurious island, but what starts off as a dream holiday turns into a nightmare.

The Plot

This was Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut, and it was a nice way to dabble into directing. She chose a movie that was in line with Get Out. It was surprisingly good to watch, but the slow-paced beginning may want to throw you off.

The Second Time

I've never been known to be a spontaneous person. On the contrary, I like to plan, organise, and plan again before making any decision, but I understand that people can be adventurous.

With that in mind, Frida was definitely insane for saying yes, twice. How do you just say yes to going off to some undisclosed island with the only person who could probably also look for you if you got lost? And then make the same choice? Twice!

No financial plan. No backup. No common sense. Just a desire to live a fantasy life with a billionaire.

Who gets on a plane with strangers? Who? It’s crazy.

The Girls

I feel it was quite ingenious on the boys' part to make the new girl feel like they were “new,” when in fact every girl there was chosen at random for their sick experiment. But again, it’s funny that not even one of them sought to ask the other how they knew the men. That was odd. You would assume girls would want to ask.

My first impression of Sarah was that she was an ex of Slater or someone who'd had her eyes on him for a while. Imagine my shock at realising she never even knew him.

Frida

The fact that, even without any trauma or even memory from the island, Frida still made the same choice twice goes to show that sometimes our problems are us. That need to be seen, to be recognised, to belong has become a core part of her life, so much so that every decision she makes comes back to it. Even when Jess asked her to leave earlier, she was more concerned with champagne and luxury.

At first, I wondered why the men weren't kissing and smooching when the ladies were clear-eyed, but well, they had other plans. Disgusting!

The Payback

I had given up hope on Camilla and Heather getting back their memories, but I guess it came back just in the nick of time. I appreciate how the girls got rid of their abusers.

The Twist

Never have I wanted someone to survive as much as I wanted Sarah to. Watching her explain what she was going to use her life to do when she left the island left me scared for her. I can’t imagine sitting among your abuser, aware they are your abusers and almost feeling helpless. Watching that knife against her throat made me uncomfortable, but the most unusual part was the knife dropping.

If you didn’t get it, here’s what Frida did: After figuring out that the perfume makes one forget, she doused his vape with the perfume, and knowing how strong of a habit he has, she knew it was only a matter of time before he vaped and got a dose of forgetfulness fragrance. So, at the right moment, he forgot everything. His friends' injuries, the killings, the sexual abuse, everything. Why was he even holding a knife? Everything traumatic went out of his mind as his island burnt to the ground.

Imagine if he hadn’t vaped!

The Victory?

So, I'm assuming that after the whole incident, he wakes up with a clear and forgetful head, she dates him, and obviously drags him into marriage, thereby attaining what she has always wanted.

But the thing is, would you call that a victory? She was abused clockwise. Twice! She had to witness multiple deaths and still found a way to stay with the same man.

Wouldn't reporting have been better? But again, all the evidence went down with the house. She's Mrs King now and can do whatever she wants, but does that count as a victory?

Also, I find it oddly ironic that the one island he decided to buy for his sick experiments had the antidote to his perfume. It's like nature was trying to give the girls a chance. The looks they gave her sent chills down my spine and brought back every memory of Get Out.

Channing

There was no way I was going to round up this review without giving kudos to Channing for that role. At first, I wasn't sure about him in it, even though I never bothered to watch the trailer. I was worried that the Don't Worry Darling working-with-your-spouse-on-a-film situation might happen with him and his fiancée, Zoë, but I was wrong. I was dead wrong.

I have watched Channing play ridiculously funny roles like in Jump Street, tough roles like White House Down and GI Joe, comedic roles like in The Lost City, sensual roles in Magic Mike, I’ve seen him dance in Step Up, emotional roles with his directorial debut, Dog, and romantic roles like in The Vow (I’m yet to see Fly Me to the Moon).

My point is that I have seen a lot of his roles, but this was surprisingly good. I never thought he would seriously pull off a psychopath, and he did. The “I’m sorry” scene was so good, I took it back twice. I know he’s an actor and this is what he’s paid to do, but we can all agree that it’s not his usual forte, yet he did well. A nice job.

My Thoughts

I liked this movie. I honestly did. It’s not an action flick or the regular horror, but it did have that tang of “you know something is wrong but can’t place it” vibe. I used Get Out because it’s the only one coming to mind, but it’s not a comparison. Blink Twice was good, and at least we know now that the therapist was trying to warn her at the gala when he blinked twice. He must have been shocked to find her, yet again, enthralled by Slater but since he also uses the perfume, that memory was long ago by the time he arrived at the island.

I’m also almost sure that Zoë was trying to send a message, maybe about how abusers or people who want to take advantage of others use the guise of a good time to cover up their real plans. I was dodging her interviews but will go watch all of them after this to understand what message she was trying to send.

Like I said earlier, it does have a slow but ominous start. You can feel that something will go wrong but can't quite place your hands on what that thing could be. After the snake bite, everything picks up pace and actually ends well. Definitely see this so that we can judge Frida together.

If you've seen it, let me know your thoughts.