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James Mottram

4/5 stars
“Forgetting is a gift,” purrs Channing Tatum’s oily tech billionaire Slater King in actress Zoë Kravitz’s compelling directorial debut, Blink Twice.
The art of erasing ill deeds from your memory is at the heart of this disturbing, finely crafted thriller, a film that should have men quaking in their boots.
Wrapped up inside a thoroughly entertaining tale is a potent examination of the modern-day male-female dynamic that never feels preachy, as well as a look at power, exploitation and abuse.


Taking the lead is British actress Naomi Ackie (I Wanna Dance With Somebody), who plays cocktail waitress Frida. When she and her friend Jess (Alia Shawkat) meet King at a fundraiser, they get sucked into his orbit as he invites them to join his crew to party in his luxury mansion on his private island.
When they get there, there are clothes laid out for them and the other women – Sarah (Adria Arjona), Carmilla (Liz Caribel) and Heather (Trew Mullen).
Around the table are King’s buddies, including Vic (Christian Slater), who has an incessant habit of snapping Polaroids of anyone and everyone, and entitled geeks Tom (Haley Joel Osment) and Lucas (Levon Hawke).

There’s also Cody (Red Rocket’s Simon Rex), who is in charge of supplying the delicious food before everyone starts dropping liquid MDMA on their tongues and getting super high. With Slater footing the bill, it all sounds idyllic. Until it is not.
Scripted by Kravitz and E.T. Feigenbaum, Blink Twice has an increasingly hallucinogenic quality as things unfold, but it never loses the plot. Well structured – the use of Jess’ yellow lighter as a totem is really clever – it is a film that keeps you guessing until everything drops neatly into place.
Then it becomes a matter of survival, something Arjona’s ex-reality-TV star repeatedly says she is capable of doing.

Tatum has already been on screens this year in Fly Me to the Moon and in his eye-catching cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine. But his role here far outstrips those appearances, his therapy-loving character feeling like the love child of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.
Kravitz, his real-life fiancée, directs with intent, while Ackie revels in her role as the “invisible” woman who “ain’t nobody”, as the Chaka Khan song goes that memorably plays across one scene.
The final act is bloody, and might be too much for some, but there is a glee reminiscent of David Cronenberg’s oeuvre to the gore. It leaves the viewer both satisfied and with much to ponder.
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American cinema

Blink Twice movie review: Channing Tatum stars in Zoë Kravitz’s thrilling directing debut

Channing Tatum as Slater King in a still from Blink Twice. Photo: Amazon MGM Studios/Amazon Content Services LLC

Naomi Ackie (left) as Frida and Adria Arjona as Sarah in a still from Blink Twice. Photo: Carlos Somonte/Amazon Content Services LLC

Channing Tatum as Slater King and Naomi Ackie as Frida in a still from Blink Twice. Photo: Carlos Somonte/Amazon Content Services LLC

Borderlands movie review: not even Cate Blanchett can save this video game adaptation

Cate Blanchett (left) as Lilith and Ariana Greenblatt as Tiny Tina in a still from Borderlands. Photo: Lionsgate

Cate Blanchett as Lilith in a still from Borderlands (category IIA), directed by Eli Roth. Kevin Hart and Edgar Ramírez co-star. Photo: Katalin Vermes/Lionsgate

Kevin Hart as Roland in a still from Borderlands. Photo: Murray Close/Lionsgate

(From left) Kevin Hart as Roland, Jamie Lee Curtis as Tannis, Ariana Greenblatt as Tiny Tina, Florian Munteanu as Krieg, and Cate Blanchett as Lilith in a still from Borderlands. Photo: Lionsgate

Deadpool & Wolverine movie review: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman bring the MCU back to life

Ryan Reynolds (left) as Deadpool/Wade Wilson and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine/Logan in a still from Deadpool & Wolverine. Photo: Jay Maidment/20th Century Studios and Marvel

Hugh Jackman (left) as Wolverine/Logan and Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool/Wade Wilson in a still from Deadpool & Wolverine (category: III), directed by Shawn Levy. Photo: Jay Maidment/20th Century Studios and Marvel

Emma Corrin as Cassandra Nova in a still from Deadpool & Wolverine. Photo: 20th Century Studios and Marvel

Hugh Jackman (left) as Wolverine/Logan and Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool/Wade Wilson in a still from Deadpool & Wolverine. Photo: Jay Maidment/20th Century Studios and Marvel

Twisters movie review: Twister repackaged with better visual effects – and Glen Powell

(From left) Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos and Glen Powell in a still from Twisters (category IIA), directed by Lee Isaac Chung. Photo: Melinda Sue Gordon

Daisy Edgar-Jones in a still from Twisters. Photo: Melinda Sue Gordon

A still from Twisters, directed by Lee Isaac Chung.

Fly Me to the Moon movie review: Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum lead space race romcom

Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum in a still from Fly Me to the Moon.

Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum in a still from Fly Me to the Moon (category: IIA), co-starring Woody Harrelson and directed by Greg Berlanti.

(From left) Channing Tatum as launch director Cole Davis, Woody Harrelson as government operative Moe Berkus and Scarlett Johansson as advertising executive Kelly Jones in a still from Fly Me to the Moon.

Channing Tatum as Cole Davis and Scarlett Johansson as Kelly Jones in a still from Fly Me to the Moon.

Inside Out 2 movie review: Pixar adds new teenage emotions to coming-of-age sequel

A still from Inside Out 2. Photo: Disney/Pixar

Inside Out 2 follows the emotions of 13-year-old Riley. This time the original emotions (left of screen, clockwise from left: Fear, Sadness, Joy, Disgust and Anger) are joined by Anxiety (right), Envy, Embarrassment and others. Image: Disney/Pixar

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Disturbing, finely wrought and entertaining, actress’ compelling thriller has a gleefully bloody ending reminiscent of a Cronenberg film


Tatum plays an oily tech billionaire in actress Kravitz’s first film as director, a compelling story of survival with a message about the male-female dynamic and an ending worthy of David Cronenberg.


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An assessment or critique of a service, product or creative endeavour.  Film reviews, restaurant reviews, reviews of art exhibitions. (Eg. Crazy Rich Asians: an important film, yes, but a good one?)


Review

Review | Blink Twice movie review: Channing Tatum stars in Zoë Kravitz’s thrilling directing debut

Disturbing, finely wrought and entertaining, actress’ compelling thriller has a gleefully bloody ending reminiscent of a Cronenberg film