Blink Twice review – A social thriller that’s hard to forget

Blink twice if you’re in danger. It’s pure coincidence that It Ends with Us and Blink Twice have released during South Africa’s Women’s Month this year, but both American films veer into the pitch-black side of lived female experience. While the domestic violence themes in Blake Lively’s It Ends with Us may surprise viewers expecting a glossy romance, psychological thriller Blink Twice is less veiled from the outset about the territory it’s heading into. However, its shock value lies in how it refuses to pull its punches.

In Blink Twice, Frida (Naomi Ackle from Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody) is an everywoman, struggling to make ends meet as she dabbles in Instagram nail art as a creative outlet. Working one evening as a waitress at a charity event, she catches the eye of charismatic tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum), and before the night is over, she and best friend Jess (Alia Shawkat) are invited to Slater’s private island for an impromptu getaway.

Alongside the likes of Adria Arjona’s reality TV star, Christian Slater’s skeevy business head, Simon Rex’s chef, and Haley Joel-Osment’s former child actor, Frida is living her best life in tropical paradise: days sipping mimosas poolside and nights indulging in recreational drug use. Except, the longer this goes on, Frida starts to realise something is “off” about the whole situation, forcing her to delve beyond the picture-perfect surface. Especially with Geena Davis’s personal assistant and Kyle MacLachlan’s therapist lurking on the periphery, in service to Slater.

Blink Twice is honestly one of those movies best experienced blind. If you were forced to give it an elevator pitch though, without giving too much away, it’s Get Out meets Don’t Worry Darling, by way of Ready or Not with a dash of Glass Onion. Don’t Worry Darling is perhaps the best comparison to make as there’s a lot of overlap between the two projects. Much like actress-turned-filmmaker Olivia Wilde made the former – where Florence Pugh’s housewife started to question her idyllic reality – The Batman star Zoë Kravitz is behind the camera here, co-writing and making her directorial debut.

Thematically, Don’t Worry Darling and Blink Twice share a number of similarities too, although Kravitz’s film is tighter, sharper and more coherent. A few of its plot twists are easy to predict well ahead of time, but Blink Twice’s impact stems from its seeping in the horrors of the Me Too movement (Davis’s character has an obvious real-world equivalent), and the increased stripping of bodily autonomy from women. Notably, no female character is safe in Blink Twice, whether they be a working-class waitress, tough survivor, or a brilliant entrepreneur. Their ethnicity also makes no difference at the end of the exploitative day.

It’ll be interesting to see how male audiences respond to Blink Twice, but women viewers who have found themselves in similar situations may be triggered by the film. And that isn’t said in a flippant “let’s drop a buzzword” manner. While the third act balances its escalating tension with self-aware humour, Blink Twice’s narrative razor can nick the audience, leaving them feeling deeply uncomfortable, if not disturbed. Nothing is alluded to; audiences get a front row seat to a very real nightmare.

It’s not all graphic though. Blink Twice is effective in spotlighting how cultivated politeness in women leaves them stuck in a dangerous situation. Slater is constantly asking his guests if they’re having a good time, to which Frida and co. respond automatically with a grinned, “I’m having a great time.” Their lips may be trembling, and they have tears in their eyes, but they’re maintaining the status quo; dampening any potential for escalation.

On that note, aided by a penchant for close-ups, Blink Twice is emotionally potent and well-acted across the board. It also features arguably the best performance of Tatum’s career to date, leveraging his charm before slicing straight through it with a cynical message about the authenticity of forgiveness. You likely won’t look at the good guy actor the same way again following this film.

And yet, despite all this, Blink Twice is dark but not bleak. With a deft flip of the female rivalries trope, and characters who neither waiver nor do frustratingly stupid things when it’s time to act, the film pivots into a satisfying revenge fantasy. Its savagery in these moments mirrors the film’s barbed commentary on unsettling social issues, creating an experience you can’t easily forget.

Blink Twice releases in cinemas on Friday, 23 August.