The Reel Review
When a couple of waitresses working a catering gig get invited to a tech billionaire’s private island getaway with his friends, they see it as an amazing opportunity of a lifetime to hobnob with the super wealthy. But gradually they discover that things on this idyllic island are not what they seem. Naomi Ackie and Channing Tatum star in this mystery/thriller from actress Zoë Kravitz, in her directorial debut.
Visually, Kravitz’s film is slick looking with a notable cast that includes Christian Slater, Kyle MacLaughlin, Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense), Simon Rex (Red Rocket) and a terribly underutilized Geena Davis as the tech billionaire’s sister/personal assistant. But the story Kravitz wrote with years-long collaborator E.T. Feigenbaum (High Fidelity) is one flimsy, confusing, plot hole-filled mess. It’s like they were trying to channel a cool #MeToo version of Get Out, only didn’t bother to make sure their story about female sexual trauma made any sense.
But even with #MeToo movement buzzwords frustratingly tossed around like a word salad, Ackie (I Wanna Dance with Somebody) and Adria Arjona (Hit Man), as a tough-talking reality show contestant, both do an admirable job as the guests who, through a series of strange occurrences, eventually figure out what’s really going on. Tatum also gives a range-stretching performance as the increasingly sleazy tech billionaire. The film is just an hour and 43 minutes, but the silly finale and feeble, tone deaf attempts at humor make it feel like an eternity.
REEL FACTS
• Zoë Kravitz first started writing the screenplay for Blink Twice in 2017, under the original working title of Pussy Island.
• Dating since 2021, Zoë Kravitz and Channing Tatum are currently engaged to be married.
• Blink Twice was filmed on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.
Video & Photo
