“Forgetting is a gift.”
That’s a line of dialogue uttered frequently in Blink Twice, Zoe Kravit’s directorial debut. It’s a psychological thriller with a pretty solid setup despite some bumps on the way to its finale, but it’s a ride worth taking.
Channing Tatum stars as Slater King, a billionaire hosting an event in which he makes a formal public apology for some transgressions before choosing to go into seclusion on his private island. Naomi Ackie costars as Frida, a waitress at the party who gets acquainted with King, and he invites her and her best friend (Alia Shawkat) to join him.
Once they arrive on the island, they indulge in hedonistic pleasures and meet several of King’s closest friends, such as Haley Joel Osment, Geena Davis, and Christian Slater. They all love to take pictures with Polaroids.
However the party starts to come to an end when Frida’s friend is bitten by a snake and goes missing. She also discovers that there might be some powerful mind controlling techniques in the form of indigenous flowers being grown on the island. She wants to escape.
Kravitz, who not only directed but also co-wrote the screenplay, does an admirable job of combining atmosphere and suspense with a fair amount of blood thrown in for good measure. She knows how to make her debut look stylish and menacing while offering a sly satire.
She’s confident enough to know what she’s doing with the material, but audiences who go into it expecting something ludicrous or pretentious may have shattered expectations. Yes, it does contain a level of violence, but it also might alienate its audience by preaching a message that revels in making a statement about race and gender. Some might be turned off at that point when it sinks in.
Nevertheless, Tatum, Ackie, and the rest of the cast do a strong job of luring us into this exotic yet disturbing utopia that’s sort of a cross between Temptation Island and Shutter Island. While the end result isn’t completely satisfying, the journey has a high level of intrigue to make it interesting.
Grade: B
(Rated R for strong violent content, sexual assault, drug use and language throughout, and some sexual references.)
