Review | ‘Blink Twice’ is exciting but lacks depth

Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut, “Blink Twice,” leaves audiences with more questions than answers. While the film confronts the dark themes of greed, sexual exploitation and revenge, Kravitz leaves the door open.

In 2017, Kravitz sat down to write her first screenplay. In a recent interview, the New York Times spoke to Kravitz about her inspiration for the film.

“It was more of an emotional issue that I was trying to work through — a combination of my own experiences and the experiences of friends and family, other women that I’m close to, and the fact that I didn’t really have a place to express those frustrations and those complicated feelings,” she said.

In the film, Slater King, played by Channing Tatum, throws a gala to rehabilitate his faltering image. After King briefly flirts with waitress and protagonist Frida, played by Naomi Ackie, she accepts an invitation to his private island, surrounded by his friends and other women. As time passes, the picturesque vacation turns into a gruesome reality.

Kravitz blends the days and nights through montages and fabrics, merging into an endless summer of perfume, matching clothes and champagne. Things go awry when Frida’s friend Jess disappears, leading Frida to question King’s motives.

From the beginning of the film, Kravitz creates an uneasy atmosphere through the production design. The color palette of the film consists mainly of bright shades of red and white. The juxtaposition of the two colors creates a shocking sensation that makes the audience wonder if something is wrong.

At King’s gala, the walls and ceiling are white, while Frida wears a dark red dress. When the characters arrive on King’s island, his mansion is dark red with white trim. Later, during dinner, Frida spills red wine on her white dress and finds dried red lipstick in her white drawers. This pattern of red and white alludes to violence and blood, which is confirmed in the film’s third act.

While the production design builds tension, Kravitz’s script lacks proper setup and character introductions. She briefly touches on King’s past allegations and his relationship with sexual abuse, but the audience is never explicitly informed of his backstory or his motives. As a result, his character arc is rather vague and lacks the necessary complexity, creating little empathy and understanding for King’s character.

Like King, Frida’s backstory lacks depth. Early in the film, she mentions a need for a vacation and a feeling of being invisible at her waitressing job. However, these are the only insights her character gains before she goes to King’s Island. If Kravitz had extended the film’s setting and focused on the details of the characters, there would have been a stronger connection between Frida and the audience.

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Additionally, this film deals with intense topics that Kravitz could be making a statement about. When the film ends, it leaves the audience with more questions than answers. While Frida’s need for male validation leads her to a violent and unsafe environment, the audience is left unsure of why Frida wants to go to this island so badly, what she learns, and who she is without King.

This is especially proven in the last few minutes of the film. When given the chance, Frida decides not to kill King. Instead, she uses the drugs that were used against her on King, manipulating his memory to steal his fortune. Kravitz’s ending seemed unrealistic and unsatisfying because Frida did not become independent of King, nor did she truly escape his presence.

While “Blink Twice” sheds light on complex topics like sexual exploitation and abuse of power, Kravitz lacks character complexity and closure, leaving themes underexposed.