Review: BLINK TWICE

Frida and Jess infiltrate the gala of a tech magnate Slater and get invited, along with a chorus line of other women to his personal island, a resort for his one-percent friends. The days are indulgent and run into each other with constantly filled champagne, rarefied cuisine, designer dresses and drugs. But the last paradise that wasn't scheduled for demolition was the one John Milton wrote about. This one is encircled by bright yellow snakes that slide through the grass close by. Someone says it: something's wrong.

Equal parts thriller and satire, Blink Twice tells a dark and clever tale under a dazzling colour pallet and music mix. The daily round of hedonism would get oppressively repetitious if it weren't for its velocity and the careful seeding of detail that makes us wonder what it is that's wrong. The second act which should express push back offers some ingenious plotting and we start to expect it to be bettered in the finale. We're right.

Accomplished actor Zoe Kravitz makes her directorial debut with this rich piece about riches and, as its co-writer with decades of industry experience, draws from the last decade's history of me-toos and smothered consent, of money bestowing power and power forgiving all. There is an introductory card about the scenes of sexual assault in the film to follow and it hits as bracingly as a warning about strobing effects. It might not be explicitly shown but the thinking behind the acts we see, their purpose and motivation are the things that pull those triggers. 

After about ten years of eat the rich satires that barely scraped the surface, Blink Twice heads straight to the core. The entitled ethics of the billionaires, tech overlords, the movie producers and flesh procurers that we've been reading about come into play here as they might have in the throne rooms of Constantinople, Rome or Babylon.

Naomi Ackie as Frida and Alia Shawkat as Jess demonstrate the fluid friend bonding that needs to be believable and work the hardest out of the cast. Monster hunk Channing Tatum shows us a man who does not care if there's a difference between what he wants to do and what convention and law allow him but renders the questions irrelevant through a veil of effortless charm. My vote for most fun performance and most horrifying is Geena Davis as Stacy the organiser who gives us a loping kind of street clown playing incompetence. Her presence among the bright young things and chiselled ex marine security men, is unsettling.

The finale delivers, after some engaging action a form of justice that we might not approve of on first look but does make sense and satisfies. Kyle MacLachlan's therapist Rich is instrumental here as he has provided one of the characters with the story's title and his understanding of it in the final scene has great resonance for anyone who's been watching closely. When actors venture into direction the result is often over generous with the cast and an eagerness to show how cleverly cinematic they can be. This just feels like a solid movie with something on its mind.

Viewing notes: I went into Hoyts this morning for this where I'd been only the previous night and had an annoying experience. Getting in and sitting where I wanted and having no one bother me felt like luxury. Two loud and talkative guys came in just as the ads were finishing but they settled and just watched. Sigh. Bliss.