• Release year: 2024
• Director: Zoë Kravitz.
• Producers: Bruce Cohen, Zoë Kravitz, Garret Levitz, Tiffany Persons and Channing Tatum.
• Screenplay by: Zoë Kravitz and E.T Feigenbaum.
• Cinematography by: Adam Newport-Berra.
• Music by: Chanda Dancy.

Shotgun Commentary: powerful female gaze in a story that will chill you to the bones.

Review

Blink Twice is, along with Monkey Man (2024), the best directorial debut of 2024. Like with most debuts, some reservations are in order. However, this film delivers what it promises and more. Psychological horror is rarely presented from a female perspective, and the change is refreshing as well as positively terrifying.

Fanfic turned nightmare

The narrative is focused on Frida (Naomi Ackie), a waitress that disguises herself as a guest at the gala she’s working at with her best friend Jess (Alia Shawkat), who also poses as a guest. There, they meet the host of the event, millionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum), who takes a liking to Frida and ends up inviting the pair to his island along with a group of people. Everything seems like a paradise of parties and great food, until they start questioning the odd things happening around them.

After watching this film, there is no excuse to underestimate the power of the female gaze in horror. While there are lots of other great horror film directed by women, this recent debut is final proof of the innate ability for horror that female professionals in the industry have. The film toys with the idea of a Spring Breakers (2012) situation but, before entering that realm, it gets real dark, real fast.

The abrupt way in which the movie changes the mood from chill and fun to horrifying and nauseating is so fast that your body barely has time to register that it’s fiction before it gets into full alarm mode. Speaking from experience, not everyone will feel that way, and there is a very high chance that the film will hit a lot harder as a woman than as a man. Not because of being emotional or any of that sexist rubbish. Rather, because we know what it is like to feel like prey every second of every day, a constant alertness that men don’t have to deal with.

Yes, but…

Perspective aside, there are a few issues with the film in terms of logic. Characters that separate out of nowhere, a whole section of the cast that does nothing for reasons unknown, choosing to hide in water instead of the obvious hiding place considering the character’s set of skills, looking at very suspicious bags but not checking their content, staring in horror instead of helping… You know, business as usual for the genre. Regardless, the account is pretty solid and none of these issues play a major role other than cutting short the most satisfying moments of the film, so no biggie.

Shining stars

Ackie delivers a great performance as the final girl, the role is emotionally demanding, and she has no problems getting it perfect. Nevertheless, it is Adria Arjona who finally shines bright. After getting hyper-sexualised and/or plain roles that asked for zero to none acting ability, like Hit Man (2023) or Morbius (2022), she finally gets the chance to show that she is even better now than she was in Good Omens (2019). Her character Sarah is full of contradictions, but she is also strong and smart, making her compelling as well as deeply interesting. She steals the show with this role like it’s nobody’s business, leaving everyone else miles behind her, even seasoned actors like Christian Slater.

All in all, Blink Twice is an absolute masterpiece of a debut. Kravitz has proven that she has a great talent for writing and eye for directing, a promising start to what will hopefully be a long career in these disciplines. The cast works wonders with the story, and the cinematography and soundtrack accompany what is one of the worst nightmares a woman can conjure.

Thanks to Warner Bros. for big screen access!

Advice to take from this movie:

• Never go ANYWHERE with people you don’t know.
• There is no need to show nudity or sexualise women to get certain messages across.
• If you were still wondering why we choose the bear, here’s the long version of the answer.

What’s your take? Have you watched Blink Twice? What was your experience like?

Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message in my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀