Frida (Naomi Ackie fresh off her Whitney Houston incarnation) and her flatmate’s Jess (indie fave Alia Shawkat) are young creatives in the big city. They find themselves waitressing at an upscale event hosted by tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum, the husband of filmmker Zoe Kravitz). The event is extremely stylised, like a photoshoot, or a scene from a sci-fi movie. The ambient lighting has a certain otherworldliness. As the staff get to hang-out after work for the free booze, Frida makes King notice her. A flirtation ensues and he then proceeds to invite her and Jess, along with another handful of guests to a party on his remote island.  

Flown on a private jet to a gorgeous Mexican-styled villa with tasteful rustic interiors submerged in the vibrant colours of the tropical flora and fauna. A setting, which for one last time will be the home of the debauchery and savagery that King and the male cohort of his guests have masterminded. The guests are older, wealthy men ready to pounce on ambitious young women. The drug-fuelled party never stops. The hapless guests are stuck in an inescapable time loop of never-ending fun. Each day bleeds into the next and with none of the guests, at least the female ones, sober enough to break the cycle. The island is infested by venomous yellow snakes. A housekeeper keeps killing them, and proceeds to drain their venom and drink it for its detox properties. Jess, accidentally stumbles across the venom elixir, an antidote to her intoxication.

The directorial debut by established actress Zoe Kravitz , sees Tatum the take on a slightly more nuanced character than the mainstream action fodder to which we are accustomed. But still very macho. A misogynistic psychopath masquerading as a charmingly, down-to-earth tech billionaire. King desire for putting women through the wringer is insatiable. Tatum’s performance is a little messy. He balances the amenable exterior with the concealed inner depravity well. But he isn’t as convincing when his psychopathological nature becomes fully exposed.

As the suspense ramps up and revelations surface, the party turns sour, accompanied by a dark tonal shift in the soundscape. Numerous close-ups, particularly of Ackie’s face, help to enhance the tension and the horror. Despite a few plot holes and implausibilities (for example, the speed-of-light efficacy of the drugs and the antidote is a little awkward), Kravitz’s directorial debut shows promise. The movie is tight and self-contained. The fast pace established from the get-go never loses steam. Emancipation eventually comes in the form of revenge and retribution, as a little surprising twist send the final denouement in a different direction.

Blink Twice comments on misogyny, race, power and class. Kravitz uses meticulous violence for maximum shock value. Rich white males seeking thrills by abusing the human psyche are nothing new in cinema. Such people featured in classics such as The Most Dangerous Game (Ernest B. Schoedsack and Irving Pichel, 1932), Hostel (Eli Roth, 2005), Wolf Creek (Greg McLean 2006), and television series The Hunger Games.

Immediate comparisons with Knives Out: Glass Onion (Rian Johnson) also come to mind. Groups of individuals (played by a top-drawer cast) invited to a stranded island owned by a super-rich benefactor with ulterior motives. As Glass Onion follows a comedic, who-done-it route, in Blink Twice the tone is mostly sombre and ominous, more aligned with the horror films of Ari Aster or Jordan Peele. Support actors include many hot stars: Adria Arjona, Simon Rex (from Sean Baker’s 2022 Red Rocket) as King’s murderous bodyguard, 1990s’ thespian royalty Christian Slater, Hayley Joel Osmond now a cuddly bear of a man, Geena Davis as Slater’s ditzy PA, and Kyle McLachlan as the elderly fixer.

Blink Twice is in cinemas on Friday, August 23rd.