*Spoiler warning follows*
Frida (Naomi Ackie), the protagonist in Zoe Kravitz’ Her directorial debut, “Blink Twice,” is about a young black woman desperately trying to be seen – seemingly by everyone, and especially by Slater King (Channing Tatum), a billionaire technology magnate who publicly reinvented himself as a tree-hugging Zen archetype of a man after being denounced for his past abusive behavior toward women.
It is this innate sense of invisibility that makes Frida the perfect choice for Slater when they meet at a charity event and he invites her to fly aboard a luxury jet to his private island, where he now supposedly enjoys nothing but the sun and the fruits of his labor. But what follows is a Jeffrey Epstein-esque story of men, women, sexual abuse and, above all, the pursuit of power.
Kravitz began writing the script that would become Blink Twice – named after the phrase used to express being in danger – in the summer of 2017, as the #MeToo movement to raise awareness of rape culture was gaining momentum on social media. Her inspiration came largely from disbelief that no one had ever tackled the subject narratively on screen before, although she has her theories about it.
“It’s scary to talk about power and how we all participate (in its dynamic),” Kravitz tells BET. “It’s not just about the blame game. It’s about how we all as a society play the game and the game is really geared towards pretending we’re not playing it. So it’s like you’re breaking this unspoken rule that we’ve all agreed to by talking about it.”
As with any game, there are different players whose different roles help to maintain the status quo. This is where the thriller’s supporting cast comes into play, which includes Christian Slater And Haley Joel Osment as stereotypical party boys and, as it later turned out, as rapists; Levon Hawke as a young, naive participant in the attacks, who has to confront the question of whether he was really as helpless in his ability to act as he claims in the end; and Julia Schaefer as Jess, the girlfriend who suspects something is wrong but is told to calm her concerns in the name of fun. There is also a Ghislaine Maxwell Guy, Stacy, portrayed by Geena Davis, whose job as Slater’s sister is to keep the party going and pretend she had no knowledge of, or responsibility for, the abuse she knows is taking place.
“Stacy’s character represents a different generation of women who didn’t have the community around them that we have, who didn’t have the #MeToo movement, who didn’t have the space to talk about things,” Kravitz explains. “The generations before me definitely had that feeling that this is how it is, you have to get used to it, and I wanted to represent those women as well.”
“Blink Twice” avoids depicting sexual trauma for trauma’s sake. In addition to working individually with intimacy coordinators, the cast also participated in women’s and men’s nights where they could talk together about any feelings that came up during filming.
“It was really important that obviously everyone felt safe and also knew why we were doing what we were doing,” says Kravitz. “To put yourself through what you have to go through to shoot those scenes, I wanted to make sure we were all connected in terms of our intention. And I wanted the men to feel cared for as well. We’re so grateful that they’re allies; they also have to go to a very uncomfortable place – a dark place – and we wanted to honor all of that. Sometimes it’s not just about the outcome, it’s about how you get there. And I think a lot of us, myself included, have healed a lot of trauma by having that community and going through that experience together.”
Towards the end of the film, Frida and another victim, competing with each other, realize who their real enemies are and begin to seek revenge on them. The scene of the unlikely union that manifests itself is strengthened by Beyoncé’s “I’m That Girl” plays in the background – a music release that Kravitz and her team thought would be just as unlikely in real life.
“When we were shooting the scene, I was playing music because I wanted them to go to something, and they kept saying, ‘Play Beyoncé,’ and I was like, ‘We’re never going to get Beyoncé,'” Kravitz explains. “And then when I was editing that, I put that song in just to see it, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s so good.’ And everyone was like, ‘You’re never going to get Beyoncé,’ and I was like, ‘I know, but let’s just send it to her and see.’ And she watched the scene, and the queen said yes, and it was definitely an act of love. I really think she wanted to be part of the story and support women.”
For some viewers, the triumphant energy of this scene might be lost in one of the film’s final scenes, when Frida chooses the name of power, a surprising plot twist. Kravitz says the ending is intentional and central to the film’s theme.
“When people talk about women, they talk about empowerment; when they talk about men, they talk about power. I wanted to create a character like Frida who is attracted to power and (asks) what does that mean? What are we going to do to get it?” Kravitz explains. (Frida) doesn’t want Slater King; she wants Be Slater King. And that’s what this story is ultimately about.”
