Movie Night with the Johnstons: Blink Twice
Join Cat & Tyler every week as they review movies you can enjoy with family, or a date night out. You can look forward to a brief summary of movies in theaters or on streaming services and our take on them.
A Note: Warning this movie is Rated [R], we strongly caution those who may need a trigger warning before watching this movie. If you are uncomfortable with subjects: drugs, sex/sexual violence, and violence please be advised as this is a tale of precaution for everyone to better know and understand your surroundings and the people you allow into your lives.
Tyler: Zoe Kravitz comes out swinging with her first directorial film, Blink Twice, a dark comedy psychological thriller brings a solid performance from the cast, crew and plot about billionaire tech mogul Slater King (Channing Tatum), Who has recently stepped down as CEO of his company King Tech. You get a slice of his deepest apologies for his past behaviors during an interview, where Slater professes his rehabilitation through therapy and soul searching on a recently acquired private island, which is why he is rarely seen publicly over the last year. Snap into the lives of Frida (Naomi Ackie) and Jess (Alia Shawkat), two young ladies that work as waitresses for an events staff at King Tech’s upcoming Gala event. You learn that Frida does A-Nail-Mals art on her finger nails in her spare time and that herself and Jess seem to be pretty close as they live together but struggle to pay the rent. Jess reminds Frida to play it cool at this year’s King Tech Gala so as not to draw attention from their boss and get them fired. Wanting a taste of the wealthy, Frida smuggles some dresses and attire in for her and Jess to rub elbows with the upper class.
We see what appears to be the lavish party vacation with amazing food, champagne that flows like water and enough hallucinogenic drugs to keep 70-80’s rock bands sedated for a few weeks. It takes a sudden turn when Jess is bitten by a venomous snake and disappears.
Cat: As soon as everyone gets to the island and has to turn over their phones you are put on edge. Zoe Kravitz does an amazing job with the pacing of the movie with the sheer number of scenes you see of everyone having a great time kicking back and partying. It makes you start to let your guard down just as the characters do. The more days they spend there, the more you start asking yourself, “okay, is there something wrong or not?”. There are definitely small things that aren’t right, but it doesn’t feel like enough to put you off completely.
When the twist of what’s wrong finally shows itself I wouldn’t say it’s all together surprising, but the speed at which it takes a turn is shocking. For me it was a bit hard to watch, but maybe take that with a grain of salt because this isn’t the type of movie I would personally normally watch. The themes in it were a bit strong for me and while you can sort of guess as to what is happening from the trailer, it still made me wish the movie came with some sort of trigger warning. Channing Tatum does an amazing job playing a villain with absolutely no remorse, which makes the whole premise even more believable. I think what is most unsettling about this movie to me is how realistic some of this situation could be, it does a great job playing on your natural fears for self preservation.
Tyler’s Final Take: Overall, I would give this film 8.5/10. The movie is well written, thought provoking, and has a lot of shock factor.
Cat’s Final Take: While this isn’t my cup of tea, the writing and acting is definitely well done, I’d give it an 8/10. Without trying to give away anything, the ending really makes it so much more tolerable for me, the power dynamic switches and it is definitely satisfying. There aren’t really any loose ends, which I appreciate. If you enjoy psychological suspense/thrillers, this one’s for you.
