Studio: Amazon MGM Studios
Release Date: 11/5/2024
Rating: R
Film Grade: C-
The Story: Frida is a down-on-her-luck cocktail waitress, who could really use a break. On the side, she creates stylized nail designs, a talent that got her noticed by tech entrepreneur and mogul, Slater King, at last year’s annual King Foundation gala. Despite being warned by her boss to not stick out this year, Frida has a plan to perhaps catch his eye once again.
The improbable plan works, and Frida is off to King’s private resort, along with best friend and roommate, Jess, for an experience she’ll never forget.
My Take: Act One begins as a whirlwind Hollywood-style romance, with the characters getting caught up in a swanky party and being whisked off to an almost dream-like island setting, as the audience experiences the thrill of budding love amongst the nouveau riche and associated entourage. This part of the script is filled with clever and subtle foreshadowing that doesn’t call itself out on a first viewing.
The second act delves into the drinking, drugs, and general debauchery that one imagines might be commonplace in such a setting, while the lazy, hazy days and nights start to blend together. It also sets up some suspicions that there might be something else going on here. Clues are dropped for the audience and characters, with some of that subtilty starting to vanish.
By the third act, any guise of nuance is completely gone, with fidelity to the narrative being sacrificed to heavy-handed messaging. That ranges from direct dialog to the prop used by one of the characters – not just once, but twice. It’s also where the mechanism behind the plot falls apart with even the slightest critical eye.
As unfortunate as that is, it’s made worse by the generally unlikeable characters. Naomi Ackie gives the role of Frida a go, but the character starts out as a lost loser, showing no traits of maturity or particular insight, making later moves seem unlikely. Afterall, this is a woman who’s unable to manage the toilet paper supply in her dumpy little apartment. She does have good chemistry with Alia Shawkat, playing BFF Jess, with the two showing a deep kinship. What doesn’t work is the relationship between Frida and King, played by Channing Tatum. King is supposed to be smitten with her, but the audience has no indication why. The rest of the cast is fine, but their characters are little more than cookie-cutter stereotypes, played for the occasional laugh.
This is the feature cowriting/directing debut for actress Zoë Kravitz, and she shows some talent behind the camera. The scenes featuring the excesses of carefree resort life are handled with gusto, and while it’s not something I’d want to partake in, it’s clear why those involved do. The characters themselves are shallow, but feel like the types of people attached that environment. It’s actually some of the quieter moments, like the evenings’ dinner conversations, that are the most compelling and interesting. As the movie delves further into the mystery side of things, Kravitz’s directing style shows some weakness, such as some scenes where clumsy humor is unnecessarily injected into the story. There’s certainly enough on display to warrant another project for her, but she may want to consider completely handing off the scripting chores to someone else.
It’s worth mentioning that the Blu-ray features a trigger warning at the beginning of the film. While I can understand how certain events or topics can be disturbing for some viewers, the warning telegraphs the events of the movie, taking away some of the mystery it tries to set up. I hope this is a trend that disappears. I believe that the warning can be bypassed by using the chapter select function, rather than just hitting play, but viewers wouldn’t know that on their own. Maybe we need a warning on the disc so we can avoid trigger warnings. As for the disturbing content itself, it’s handled as mildly as one can reasonably expect, feeling neither overly gratuitous or exploitive.
Visuals: This is a great looking Blu-ray, with the colors of the tropical flora and resort décor popping off the screen. Blacks are deep and inky, with fine examples of various natural skin tones and textures. There were no flaws to be found in the visuals, with the picture never distracting from the plot.
Audio: While not overly engaging, the DTS-MA mix is satisfactory. It’s moderately enveloping, with some natural sounds used for effect. Dialog is mostly clear other than some mumbling. There’s one sound effect that seems disconnected to the story when first heard, but is actually an excellent audio example of foreshadowing that is revealed in the third act. The musical score is minimal but effective, highlighted by a recurring string theme that trails off as it loses its tone, creating an appropriately disconcerting effect. The movie is accompanied by some pop songs that are thematically fitting. It’s a good, but not spectacular mix.
Special Features: None
Final Verdict: Blink Twice starts off on the right foot, creating a story where the audience has the feeling that something isn’t quite right, despite any seductively alluring outward appearances. While the characters aren’t overly likeable, it would be easier to overlook if the filmmakers took the plot more seriously rather than lean into the simplistic message. It’s not hard to guess the overriding theme of the movie going into it, but don’t worry if you do; it will hit you over the head multiple times before the credits roll. The irony of it all is that the message is coming from a Hollywood production.
Mildly recommended for the curious, but not in general. Since this is an Amazon product, I would imagine that it will be included in their Prime service soon.
Fun Quote: “It’s not what I thought it was going to be.”
As is usual, the trailer gives away too much of the story, so don’t watch past the half-way point if you want to preserve most of the surprises.
My Review System:JVC DLA-RS3100 4K Ultra High-Definition Front Projector
Elite Screens Sable Frame B2 117” Width with Infinitely Variable Height
Monolith by Monoprice HTP-1 16 Channel Processor with Dirac Live
Monolith by Monoprice 7x200 Watts Amp
Monolith by Monoprice 3x200 Watts + 6x100 Watts Amp
JBL Studio 590 for Left, Center, Right, Wides, and Rears
JBL Studio 580 for Side Surrounds
JBL Studio SCS 8 for Tops
JTR Captivator 1400 Subwoofer X 4
Panasonic DP-UB420 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
Oppo BDP-93
NVIDIA Shield Android TV - 4K
Xbox One X
HTPC Running madVR (work in progress)
Remote: URC MX-780
Mini DSP 2X4 HD controlling all subwoofers
APC S15 Power Conditioner with Battery Backup
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