No single man should have so much power

This article contains massive spoilers for “Blink Twice”.

“Blink Twice” is a confident, exciting piece of cinematography that turns a talented actor into a multi-hyphenate triple threat. Zoe Kravitz, who you know from films like “The Batman” and shows like “Big Little Lies,” co-wrote the screenplay for “Blink Twice” with ET Feigenbaum and makes her directorial debut with this spectacular and subversive film, a gorgeous, colorful, primal-scream thriller that uses its over-the-top, stylish elements to great effect. BJ Colangelo of /Film called the film “the biggest surprise of 2024,” and since we didn’t know Kravitz had this in her as a filmmaker, I’m inclined to agree.

It’s the kind of movie that starts off going in one direction, then builds to a reveal, takes a big twist, and builds the tension exponentially as it heads toward the finish line. Here’s what you need to know about the film and what its ending means.

Frida (Naomie Ackie) is in desperate need of a vacation, and her dream comes true when, while working as a waitress in a catering business, she meets quasi-canceled billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum), who recently returned to public life after a period of absence due to unspecified misconduct for which he was forced to publicly apologize. But that doesn’t seem to bother Frida too much, and the two begin a flirtatious back and forth. By the end of the night, Slater has invited Frida and her roommate Jess (Alia Shawkat) to come to his private island with his entourage, including a Polaroid snapper named Vic (Christian Slater), a failed screenwriter (Haley Joel Osment), a tech bro (Levon Hawke), a foodie (Simon Rex), and three hot women: Sarah (Adria Arjona), Heather (Trew Mullen), and Camilla (Liz Caribel). The island is a tropical paradise where champagne is always flowing, drugs are always available, free clothes and perfume are in the bungalows, and the days just blend into one another. It seems like Frida has hit the jackpot: she’s on the same wavelength as a hot rich guy, and her best friend is right by her side. Or is she?

During an unplanned, isolated encounter with one of the maids working on Slater’s island estate, Frida takes a sip from the woman’s bottle, only to discover that she has just ingested snake venom. This liquid opens her mind to the horrifying truth: the perfume she used is synthesized from a plant that only grows on this island, and it has properties that cause partial amnesia, repressing the trauma of what is happening. Really on Slater’s Island: Frida, Jess and the rest of the women are raped every night by Slater and his sleazy friends. At the end of each night, their memories are erased and they wake up to continue their seemingly endless party. When Frida regains her memories, she suddenly remembers how Slater murdered Jess; a snake bit her and the snakebite caused the poison to flow through her veins, which served as an antidote to the perfume and ensured that she would not forget her assaults like the others. Meanwhile, Sarah begins to realize that something is wrong in this place, and after Frida gives her some of the poison, the two hatch a plan.

Frida and Sarah administer the poison (diluted with tequila shots) to Heather and Camilla, and after a few tense moments at the dinner table, the women are all practically “awake” and decide to strike back at their tormentors in violent fashion. In a decisive confrontation, many of the men are killed or maimed, Heather and Camilla are murdered, and Frida discovers that this hellish experience has lasted much longer than she thought: the maid’s phrase “red rabbit” was a reference to a pattern she had painted on her nails, and one of Vic’s Polaroids shows that Frida has been to this island before. She manages to administer the perfume to Slater by pouring some of it into his vape pen, which leads to him Forgetting things. Frida and Sarah set fire to the building and struggle to get out again. Vic is injured and Slater is apparently inside, where he is burning. But it soon turns out that Frida actually got Slater to safety.

While Slater’s apparent death as flames engulfed his estate suggests a traditional rape/revenge story ending, Kravitz takes it a step further. The film’s final moments reveal that Frida has married Slater and is using his own technology to oppress him—a true “taste of his own medicine” scenario. Crucially, though, Frida has also taken over Slater’s company. For Kravitz, “Blink Twice” is about one thing above all else: power. Slater had robbed Frida of the power to make her own decisions by drugging her and letting her play his sick game, casually offering her body to his rich buddies as if she were a new golf club he was lending them for a few swings. But in the end, Frida and Sarah have worked their way through that layer of oppression, and Frida has secured a position of authority in a business environment that has historically excluded women. And to top it all off, Frida has gathered enough evidence to have Rich, Slater’s wealthy therapist friend (and one of her attackers), arrested.

The film’s final minutes are a cascade of catharsis, an elaborate retribution that doesn’t simply erase these evil men who abused her with a quick death, but subjects her to levels of oppression she never imagined for rich, white men like her. She’s suffered unimaginable losses, but Frida has finally found a way to get what she’s always wanted: a seat at the table.

We talked about “Blink Twice” on today’s episode of the /Film Daily podcast, which you can listen to below:

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