Blink Twice. Is it worth watching the directorial debut of actress Zoe Kravitz?

The psychological thriller is an extremely complex and difficult genre to bring to life. After all, it has to work carefully with the viewers’ minds, keep them in suspense and mislead them, but still constantly drop hints about the real nature of the events. The line between truth and fantasy in good stories is extremely thin, and there are simply no stable methods for the quality realization of all intentions.

However, actress Zoe Kravitz still chose a psychological thriller for her directorial debut. But there’s no need to worry, because Blink Twice is a brilliant movie. With interesting and relevant thoughts in the script, outstanding direction and a clear understanding of what emotions it wants to evoke in the audience.

Waitress Frida (Naomi Aki) dreams of a beautiful and luxurious life, but for now she has to make do with a dirty apartment and a low-paying job. One day, however, she finds herself at a dinner party with billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum). The girl manages to catch the billionaire’s interest, and she and her friend are invited to King’s private island. There they begin to have fun with alcohol and drugs without thinking about anything. But the island hides something more than just a place for a retreat, and the billionaire’s motives may be far from pure.

Blink Twice takes a standard template of interaction between poor and rich people and works with it for the entire runtime. It’s a very hackneyed plot, and in 2024 it seems hard to make something original and interesting out of it. Too much has been said with a similar plot. That’s why the beginning of Blink Twice seems a bit boring, even though you will be misled from the very first frame.

However, the main achievement of Kravitz as a new director is that even from such a beginning she managed to make not only an adequate story, but also a complex, multi-layered and in some ways even philosophical one. The luxurious scenery of King’s Island gradually becomes more and more threatening. And the people who seemed friendly or at least harmless harbor terrible thoughts. Wealth and luxury become the prism through which Kravitz explores the depths of the human soul and the monsters that lurk there.

A separate advantage of Blink Twice is that it does not deal with the “usual” threats for cinema. There are no monsters, serial killers, or cruelty for the sake of cruelty in this movie. Instead, the main danger is more prosaic, even banal in its evil. But this makes it even more terrifying, because it is very easy to find its elements in everyday real life. We won’t give away any spoilers, but we would like to point out that Blink Twice is a very female and feminist movie.

But even here, the film crew works competently and does not try to force any thoughts and ideas on you. The development of events feels organic, and you begin to understand more about the true nature of King’s Island together with the main character. Immersiveness is maximized, even editing and cinematography become another storytelling tool that enhances the impact of the story and its cruel morals on the audience. There are no unnecessary shots or scenes in the movie.

However, at the same time, Blink Twice is also trying to be a black comedy like Bodies Bodies Bodies and other “youth” productions from studios like A24. And at this point, the film crew doesn’t really succeed in entertaining you. Perhaps this situation is due to the fact that the main theme of the movie is too heavy and even disgusting in some ways. Against this background, all attempts to make a joke, even a rather harsh and cynical one, seem unnecessary and strained.

After the credits roll, you won’t want to laugh and discuss Blink Twice in any comedic way. This is a serious movie, which even has festival elements. But at the same time, it always remains massive and accessible for understanding, which is also an undoubted advantage. After all, telling about difficult topics in a simple and understandable way is not an easy task, and it takes a lot of talent to successfully realize it. And Kravitz has succeeded, so we can only be happy for the director and look forward to her new works.