Blink Twice a movie where I enjoy very much Channing Tatum and Christian Slater aka "Mr. Robot" acting, both are some of my favorite actors, this movie is a psychological thriller that Zoe Kravitz directed, as her debut into the film industry as director; the film targets the audience’s attention on the issues of power, consent and gender roles. It is a film that proves Kravitz’s directing abilities, has great performances and has an interesting concept, it is far from being a perfect movie and is a rather mixed and intriguing one.
The plot develops around the character of Frida, played by Naomi Ackie, a cocktail waitress who goes on a trip to the private island of tech billionaire Slater King portrayed by Channing Tatum with her friend Jess portrayed by Alia Shawkat. In the movie Frida becomes more enchanted with Slater and the rich life he has, she starts seeing some things that tell her that not all is well in this Hawaiian life. The basic concept of the movie brings in the comparison and the power dynamics that usually happen between the ultra wealthy and those who want to make that jump and get to the same level, as well as the ways in which women are often objectified and manipulated in such environments.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14858658/
- Platform: AppleTV+
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Kravitz, who co wrote the script with E. T. Feigenbaum, deals with such issues as power relations and the distinction between pleasure and danger. While the film has several suspenseful moments, the early scenes are especially good in setting the mood of growing discomfort and confusion, which is helped by Kravitz’s direction. The vibrant and tropical surroundings of the island environment to the plots of the movie are quite striking and as the movie progresses from light comedy to mystery and thriller, the environment itself moves from bright to start taking a more darker tone almost menacing. This approach in combination with the disturbing sound design shows that Kravitz is more than capable of setting the tone and atmosphere.
In my opinion, the cast is one of the film’s assets, especially Naomi Ackie as Frida. Ackie gives layers of interest to her character and captures both the kind of slight obsession?! that Frida feels at the start of the show and the conflict that the protagonist experiences as she becomes more and more uncomfortable. Finally, Channing Tatum, who is quite typecast in his films, does a credible job as Slater King, being both charming and potentially dangerous at the same time, a guy you know you cant fully trust. The rest of the cast members are also quite good with Adria Arjona as the fellow guest Sarah and Christian Slater as the mysterious friend of Slater, Vic.
One of the few problems I have with the movie is that it does not have a smooth flow and coherency as it goes through the different scenes, almost like separate chapters. The tempo of the film can be slow at some moments in the first half of the movie and some scenes do not have the sense of tension which is needed, been the biggest asset of the movie, the unknown and whats going to happen next. While it can be useful in creating tension in the course of the film, at times it ends up as a sort of fatigue in the film’s energy, some of the twists and the characters’ actions in the second part of the film look rather artificial and do not seem to make much sense, which weakens the movie’s dramatic effect at times.
On one hand, this approach to develop and express the film’s themes is very promising and engaging; on the other hand, sometimes it looks like the director does not pay enough attention to the perception of the message he tries to express. Despite the elements of Kravitz and Feigenbaum’s script that concern the themes of consent, power relations and objectification of women’s bodies the movie does not always go as deep into these themes as you might have expected. At the same time, some of the messages of the film in regard to these issues might be rather obvious and crude, especially in terms of male characters, they are often depicted as one dimensional and stereotyped. I never felt that the movie was trying to push a message into peoples head or trying to change anything that we see and experience probably on our day by day depending on you work or life environment but I can understand how people might think it is the case.
The movie is not lacking of some philosophical reflections and the scenes and sequences that can definitely prove that Kravitz is a filmmaker worth watching, for Frida it gets to those moment where she actually start to believe that there is another world, although its just not the same world she lives in, thats the effect that power gives every human within society, one of the most engaging moments of the movie is a scene of a group dinner where the atmosphere gradually becomes tense and the scene becomes almost surreal to demonstrate the relations of power between the characters and the position of the female characters as the objects of manipulation and domination. Such scenes are perfect examples of how Kravitz can make scenes that are raw and leave a feeling that can be felt by the viewers.
The scenery of the movie is very effective, with the combination of lighting, vegetation, the dangers of the island and they all just sitting there knowing nothings is going to happen and having a good time, its that privacy, satisfaction and assurance that power gives. I think both the cinematography and the sound design was on point to create this type of environment where again, looks like out of another world, its just the same planet but different realities for some of the characters in the movie.
The twist at the end is the main focus of the movie I believe, from the start we already know the topic and how it might develop, very predictable if you ask me. As the movie progress it brings up issues of trauma, power, and revenge. When Frida and the other women in the island discover that they have been raped by Slater King and his friends while they were being drugged, they rebel in a very brutal manner. In the midst of all this confusion, Frida realizes she has been there before which is true because she was once a victim of Slater’s con which saw her memories wiped off. This revelation goes further to make the situation more horrifying as it already is.
In the end, Frida does not shoot Slater dead, an action which at first makes no sense why she didn't blow his head. The film then moves to the future presenting Frida in what seems to be a romantic relationship with Slater and managing his business, big time wtf moment but this is not a fairy tale ending or even Stockholm syndrome. It is an intentional twist of events that Frida has woken up and started fighting her abuser. She has been administering the same drug which erases one’s memory to Slater and other victims including herself thus putting him in a permanent state of confusion and obedience. Frida has now acquire the aspects of Slater’s life in terms of money, authority and the company and turned it against him, remember when I mention "want to give that jump", well she does.
This ending is very ambiguous with moral tones, not going full woke on you although I hate that word so much, but the ending refer mostly regarding the nature of vengeance and justice for the abused. Even though Frida has gotten the better of the man and avenged herself she is also just as much a part of the abusive relationship as the man. I would conclude that we are left to decide whether Frida’s actions are right or she has been transformed into a vengeful person by the events that happened in her life, I would not judge her for her reaction but then where is justice?.
