Spontaneous visit to the movies

I went to the cinema with no expectations of this movie. I know, I know, I said in my last review that I would never go to the movies without checking out a movie first. But I needed to distract myself, and this was pretty spontaneous. And I guess that’s a good thing, because I did not know anything about Zoë Kravitz directorial debut. I saw the trailer for it once and was kind of intrigued, but also at a loss as to how to judge the movie or what to make of it. I and many others are not used to seeing movie trailers where not much is said or shown. (I am looking at you, “Wicked“).

Framing and close-ups in Blink Twice

The first thing I noticed, or what is really obvious, was the framing of the shots. We were always in a very tight shot and close-up of a character and almost never in a wide shot unless multiple people or a building is to be shown. This shot was chosen so that there was no possibility of running away from what was happening. The fear and the unknown that the character is going through is impossible to shake off. As a viewer, you feel uncomfortable when you “only” get to see a face. But this is perfect for reading a character, you feel every emotion, every thought and every other detail. Another thing about the camera choices is that one of the victims, almost all women and one man, are never shown alone in a scene. By that I mean, if a victim is filmed alone, a bad guy is either also in the shot or hiding somewhere with the victim. It does not always happen, but I have noticed it a lot, which also makes me feel uneasy when I know a bad guy should be around somewhere. You are never alone.

Interpretations and inspirations in Blink Twice

Much like the camera choices and even the script, the movie did a good job of showing its inspirations without making them too obvious. Of course, these could be interpretations on my part, so take them with a grain of salt. One big thing was the whole “Red Rabbit” thing, which reminded me a lot of “Redrum” from Kubrick’s “The Shining” because of its unknown origin and meaning, which is explained later. Another reference to a classic from Hitchcock’s “Psycho” is the scene where Frida (the protagonist) runs across the room with the big knife. Another more recent inspiration is the famous foot shot from Barbie, which is referenced when Frida enters the office of Slater (the antagonist). The third and most “obvious” inspiration is the allusion to Percy Jackson and the Lotus casino with the flowers and forgetting everything. I say again that these are my observations and interpretations! A real life reference for the whole movie is the whole Epstein case and his island where similar and even worse things happened that are unforgivable. In “Blink Twice” they add the “forgetting” part which makes the movie more fictional, but the rest still happens in the world unfortunately.

The use of comedy in Blink Twice

I was surprised and appreciated the use of comedy in this movie because it was actually funny and not forced, which would make the movie fall flat. The movie is a horror thriller and comedy would not fit in, but it takes you out of that cruel world at times and reminds you that it’s a movie. For example, when Frida and Sarah find the room where the gift bags are, they have a funny conversation about what it would be like if they called the police. At the end, there is another scene in which a dying man on a sofa in the background makes funny comments about what is happening. With these conversations and comedy, the characters break the fourth wall, so to speak, by talking to us and making fun of other bad movie clichés.

Fighting against movie clichés

Speaking of clichés, or specifically movie clichés, this movie had a good redemption and fought against bad scripts from other movies. One important thing I can talk about is when Frida first talks to Sarah about the strange things that happen, like Frida’s friend Jess disappearing, etc. Frida already has her memory back and Sarah was still clueless, but she believed Frida. This fact made me very happy, because in almost all movies with this kind of conversation, the other person simply does not believe the protagonist. Even with a good explanation or even with evidence. Sarah believed Frida even with the most illogical and unrealistic explanation. Only because Frida was really worried about the whole thing. Later in the movie, when Frida lost her “companion”, she got a new one in the form of Sarah. I was worried that they’d soon kill Sarah. That often happens when the protagonist is finally no longer alone. But here they changed it and I was glad they did. Also, the movie has a “happy ending” with the women going on a revenge killing spree.

Brilliant acting in Blink Twice

The penultimate thing I’d like to praise is the brilliant acting combined with the good script. The scene where Channing Tatum screams “I’m sorry” over and over again gave me goosebumps. It was strange, unusual and many more emotions. I believed him and was confused about that part, but it was perfect because it captivated me. Speaking of the script, you could also say the structure of the movie as a whole. I really enjoyed being a “detective” and trying to solve the mystery of the movie. You know something is wrong and the antagonist is trying to figure out what, and I was in the same situation myself. I couldn’t figure out what twists and turns the plot would take or what the elephant in the room would be, etc. With most movies, you know how the movie is going to end within the first 10 minutes or at the “Theme Stated” moment and could literally explain the plot. But not this time, and that really drew me into the blink taction. I was literally sitting in the movie theatre asking, “What does this mean?” or “Show me the picture, I want to know what’s going on.”

Confusing and yet captivating ending

Coming to the end of my review, I want to talk about the only “bad” or you could say the confusing part. I do not really know why Frida saves Slater just so she can do the same thing to him that he did to her. In my opinion, Slater deserved to burn. (Do not judge me please) I get that she’s poor and using him to get rich, but she sees him every day. Somehow it’s still a good ending just because I find myself asking questions like “does she want to remember?”, “is she just like Slater because she does the same thing?”, “is she a bad person because of it too?” and “what happened to Sarah afterwards?”, “did Frida just use her and did they go their own way afterwards?”. I myself would befriend the other survivor after the atrocities that happened, and other people would not believe us either. Other questions like “how can they get away with mass murder?” I will leave that aside for now, because after all, it’s still a movie.

Final thoughts on Blink Twice

That’s it for my review, I do not want to make it too long and I hope you enjoyed reading it. I would be delighted if you share my opinion. “Blink Twice” is going on my recommendation list. It’s a good movie.

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