Film release: August 22, 2024
BLINK TWICE
USA / 2024
Written and directed by Zoe Kravitz
Mit: Naomi Ackie. Channing Tatum u.a.
Quite
uglier
Horror
As a poor, normal person who has to seek out his adventures in the cinema, you are of course never invited to the parties, the yachts, the luxury residences of the super-rich. You only read about it in the newspapers – for example, when a woman who attended a Jeffrey Epstein party decades later sues for rape and the British royal family fleeces her… But what is really going on with the millionaires, billionaires – this obviously disgusting species? Hopefully it doesn’t always turn into a horror film, like in “Blink Twice”.
The creator of the somewhat dubious product is Zoe Kravitzparents who are professionals (the musician Lenny Kravitz and the actress Lisa Bonet), girlfriend of a celebrity (Channing Tatum, whom she cast in her film), so far mainly seen as an actress in supporting roles. It is not entirely clear whether her directorial debut is intended to tell young women today: Don’t let rich white men (even if they are not old) invite you to a weekend because it will go wrong, or whether she simply wanted to make a glossy horror film.
After all, she chose an unusual heroine, not a beautiful white one, but Naomi Ackie (who already played Whitney Houston in the film), who with her “funny” face and the big, round eyes that the camera keeps celebrating reminds us a little of Whoopi Goldberg and brings a comedic element to the film. Actually, this Frida is just a waitress for parties, but when she is supposed to serve cocktails at a gala hosted by billionaire Slater King, whom she follows admiringly on social media, she and her friend Jess (Alia Shawkat) change from their uniforms into evening dresses in order to get closer to their idol. It is not unlikely that he will invite them to stay on his private island – the rich do not care how many people they host.
And so the two of them, along with three of Slater’s friends and their female accomplices, are quickly on the island by private plane. The house looks like a maharajah’s palace, pool, champagne, luxury dinners and, above all, drugs, everything is there. For a while, everything looks like the wish fulfillment of the readers of Bunte Blätter, and Naomi Ackie completes the dream world with wide eyes and noticeable delight.
However, it gradually becomes clear that the host is not only charming – Channing Tatumwho has never really attracted attention as an actor (most recently in vaguely comedic roles with Scarlett Johansson in “To the Moon”), gradually shows here that with all his good-looking facade he can also give you goosebumps.
It’s not just a snake that disturbs the harmony, not just the loud, stupid men and the women who behave so strangely, not to mention the staff, Frida, who actually goes along with everything, sooner or later turns on her common sense and realizes that something isn’t right – especially when her friend disappears and someone tries to convince her that she wasn’t actually there?
Well, you end up with scenes of torture and violence that turn your stomach – Zoë Kravitz (also as her own co-screenwriter) has come up with some truly gruesome things, which are made even uglier by the nasty punch line at the end (it has to do with our surviving heroine). At least in Epstein’s case, you were only raped. Zoe really makes her victims suffer horribly…
Renate Wagner
