Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut, “Blink Twice,” leaves audience members with more questions than answers. While this film confronts dark themes of greed, sexual exploitation, and revenge, Kravitz leaves the door open.
In 2017, Kravitz sat down to write her first screenplay. In a recent interview, the New York Times spoke with Kravitz on her inspiration for the film.
“It was more of an emotional thing that I was trying to work out — a combination of my own experiences and experiences of friends and family, other women that I’m close to, and not really having a place to put those frustrations and complicated feelings,” she said.
In the film, Slater King, played by Channing Tatum, hosts a gala to rehabilitate his faltering image. After King briefly flirts with waitress and protagonist Frida, played by Naomi Ackie, she accepts an invitation to his private island, among his friends and other women. As more time passes, the picturesque vacation unravels into a horrific reality.
Kravitz bleeds the days and nights together through montages and substances, merging into an endless summer of perfume, matching attire, and champagne. Things go awry, though, when Frida’s friend Jess goes missing, leading Frida to question King’s motives.
From the beginning of the film, Kravitz creates an uneasy atmosphere through the production design. The film’s color palette consists primarily of vivid shades of red and white. The juxtaposition between the two colors creates a jarring sensation that makes audience members question if something is wrong.
At King’s gala, the walls and ceiling are white, while Frida wears a dark red gown. When the characters arrive on King’s island, his mansion is dark red with white edging. Later at dinner, Frida spills red wine on her white dress and finds dried red lipstick in her white drawers. This pattern of red and white alludes to violence and blood, which is confirmed in the film’s third act.
While the production design builds suspense, Kravitz’s script lacks a proper setup and character introductions. She briefly touches on King’s previous allegations and his relationship with sexual abuse, but the audience is never explicitly informed about his backstory or his motives. Hence, his character is quite vague and lacks the complexity needed, creating little empathy and understanding of King’s character.
Like King, Frida’s backstory lacks depth. At the beginning of the film, she mentions a need for a vacation and feeling invisible during her job as a waitress. However, these are the only insights provided for her character before she goes to King’s island. If Kravitz elongated the film’s setup and focused on the characters details, there would’ve been a stronger connection between Frida and the audience.
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Moreover, this film tackles intense topics that Kravitz could make a statement about. When it was over, it left audiences with more questions than answers. While Frida’s need for male validation leads her to an abusive and unsafe environment, the audience does not know why Frida wants to go to this island so badly, what she learns, and who she is without King.
This is proven especially in the last few minutes of the film. When given the opportunity, Frida decides against killing King. Instead, she uses the drugs that were used against her on King, manipulating his memory to take his fortune. Kravitz’s ending seemed unrealistic and unsatisfying because Frida did not gain independence from King, nor did she truly escape his presence.
While “Blink Twice” sheds light on complex topics of sexual exploitation and power abuse, Kravitz lacks character complexity and closure, leaving themes underbaked.