Are you having a good time?
Zoe Kravitz directorial debut BLINK TWICE is astonishingly assured, mysterious and clever. It's a David Lynch/Christopher Nolan like immersion into memory & trauma that's brutally entertaining for every minute of its running time.
Don't let anyone spill its secrets, I certainly won't here.
Naomi Ackie (Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody) stars as Frida, a server who works at a catering company alongside roommate Jess (Alia Shawkat from "Arrested Development").
Frida is excited to work at a major fundraising event hosted by recently cancelled Tech Billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum). His apology is all over the internet, but we don't see any details of what he's apologizing for.
The two have a moment at the event and King invites Frida and Jess to join him on his newly acquired tropical island in the middle of nowhere.
Sound familiar?
Champagne, gifts and drugs flow as they land in the middle of a paradise that seems to only have one issue, those dangerous vipers lurking about.
Guests need to look out for the snakes too.
King's entourage is an eccentric lot, well cast.
Christian Slater (True Romance) is King's right hand man Vic. He's always smiling, quick with a quip and a highball as he takes constant Polaroids of their island adventures. Slater is funny and smarmy in equal doses.
Adria Arjona (Hit Man, 6 Underground) is Sarah, a reality TV star whose adept at holding her own in a jungle as an all-star on a "Survivor" like show. She seems closest to their resident chef Cody (Simon Rex) whose nightly island dinners seem Michelin star worthy. Dessert is always something fancy followed by hallucinogenics.
Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense) stars a Tom, always surrounded by party girls Camilla (Liz Caribel ) and Heather (Trew Mullen). Golden boy and newly minted tech wunderkind Lucas (Levon Hawke, son of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman) is unshakably happy, even when he wakes up with a hangover and a massive black eye.
Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks, Dune) is King's therapist and Geena Davis (Thelma and Louise, The Fly) is Stacy, King's loyal if fumbling personal assistant.
It's a great cast and each of them carve out a unique character that serves as a piece of the island experience.
Days turn into weeks, nights seem to fade, mornings bring more poolside fun and luxury. All is not what it seems on King's island. We observe the happenings and are pulled into the mystery, each day brings more drugs, more gaps.
Writer/Director Kravitz has plenty to say, and she does so brilliantly. Sprinkling alarming visuals into the film in both pops & flashes as well as more traditional flashbacks, she kept me on edge through the absolutely mad conclusion. She plays with time in a way that makes it feel almost elastic. When characters ask, "What day is this?" I can fully understand why.
Tatum is terrific in an unexpected role. I'm not sure I'll ever hear anyone say "I'm sorry" and hear it quite the same way thanks to his performance.
As Chanda Dancy's creepy AF music score weaves its way into your psyche, Kravitz takes you on a seductive, twisted trip that descends into some very dark places. Kravitz drives all with a gifted, sure hand behind the camera. She has Lynch's sense of mystery but Nolan's gift for storytelling clarity.
I can't wait to see what she creates next.
BLINK TWICE is the kind of film that I find myself still thinking about the next day. Scenes in the opening act take on new resonance with what I know now. I need to see it again to fully explore the mysteries and clues hidden within Kravitz's storytelling.
Disturbing, thoughtful and tightly wound, BLINK TWICE gets an A.
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