Blink Twice Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Blink Twice Blu-ray Movie Review

Fool me twice, shame on me.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III November 1, 2024

Actor-turned-writer/director Zoë Kravitz debuts with Blink Twice, a disturbing psychological thriller that was originally titled Pussy Island before realizing that she wanted people to actually see it. Co-written by E.T. Feigenbaum, this is a ripped-from-the-headlines story concerning a group of women, including cocktail waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie), who are whisked to the private island of mogul Slater King (Channing Tatum) after a whirlwind gala event. The former CEO of a tech company named after himself, Slater professes to be a changed man after recent public apologies for unspecified past behavior, including visits to a therapist (Kyle MacLachlan) to work through past trauma. Frida, along with her best friend and roommate Jess (Alia Shawkat) as well as several other women, are treated to a lavish vacation with all the amenities of home; there's no luggage needed and cell phones are collected upon arrival, freeing all the ladies up for relaxing days by the pool and all the gourmet food, drinks, drugs, and partying they can handle.

Unsurprisingly, it's not long before Frida and Jess start to question their strange new environment, from the ladies' matching provided outfits to other items like in-house perfume, occasionally off-handed comments and behavior from Slater's staff and co-workers, and of course the general weirdness of being voluntarily cut off from the outside world. Nonetheless, they indulge in all that food, drink, drugs, and partying, all the while occasionally suffering from brief lapses in memory and other peculiarities, like mysterious bruises or dirt under their fingernails. Eventually a few of them begin to ask questions... but it's not until Jess straight-up vanishes that things start to go off the rails.

Blink Twice has some interesting things to say about memory, trauma, and of course the abuse of unchecked power, which here is depicted to a ludicrous but not-all-that-impossible degree, at least based on recent and past headlines in the entertainment industry. It's almost presented as a mystery thriller in the vein of Get Out but -- without trying to give away and real spoilers here -- is laced with the revenge-fueled fantasy of I Spit On Your Grave or even Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It's a valiant and frequently potent combination that unfortunately doesn't work, and the massive third-act twist really doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Both of these shortcomings can be placed on the film's rather weak setup and persistent pacing issues, with far too much reliance on clumsy exposition and the endless, almost laughable repetition of one specific short and atonal music cue to let you know that's something rotten in Denmark. (Seriously, take a shot every time you hear this cue and you'll probably black out long before the end credits.)

Performances are fine all around, although a great deal of the supporting cast is wasted on interchangeable roles that don't amount to much. Christian Slater in a rare and welcome appearance? Wasted, mostly. Kyle McLachlan? Barely a peep. Haley Joel Osment? He's only memorable for those heart sunglasses. Otherwise, everyone acquits themselves decently enough... especially Geena Davis, who turns in a relatively minor but well-played turn as Slater's impossibly nervous assistant Stacy. All told, though, there's just not enough meat on the bones of this thriller, one that isn't all that well-constructed but nonetheless has its moments including a few well-placed edited tricks that keep viewers just disoriented as many of its characters. The problem is that once we remember what's actually going on here, it's easy to see Blink Twice as an uneven thriller that's not quite as intelligent or well thought-out as it pretends to be.

Only a modest performer at the box office, fans will be disappointed to learn that MGM has saddled Blink Twice with only a featureless Blu-ray edition of the film and no 4K option in sight. It's at least a great looking and sounding disc, of course... but unless you already saw and enjoyed this one (is "enjoyed" the right word?), it's a tough sell.

For a more favorable take on Blink Twice, please see Brian Orndorf's theatrical review.

Blink Twice Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

MGM's Blu-ray presentation of Blink Twice is a stunner for sure, a neat and tidy transfer of this all-digital production that gets a 50 GB disc all to itself. Image detail is immaculate in the right conditions, with an abundance of colorful location footage and sun-kissed landscapes contrasting sharply against considerably cooler night scenes, naturally-lit interiors, and a few prolonged night scenes. Focus pulls, occasionally disorienting compositions, wide shots, tight close-ups, and everything in-between plays almost without a hitch, as only the film's most oppressively dark moments show slight and forgivable signs of mild ghosting where more vivid colors or highlights are introduced. I'd certainly have been interested to see Blink Twice in native 4K; aside from a resolution boost, the added benefits of HDR10 or Dolby Vision would have likely pushed this film's visual effectiveness even further than what we get here. But taken on its own terms, MGM's 1080p presentation is no slouch and performs consistently well within format boundaries.

Blink Twice Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

From the droning low-frequency moments onward, select portions of Blink Twice are unusually aggressive and come from almost every angle; similar to certain visuals, they're often purposefully designed to disorient us at specific moments. Based on those merits and many others, MGM's DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix can be seen as a potent effort with strong dynamics, crisp dialogue, well-placed effects, and more than a few sonic surprises along the way. I hesitate to award it the full five stars, however, because I'm not 100% certain of the film's native audio format but I'm all but certain that Dolby Atmos would've pushed this into "perfect" territory. It's still outstanding, of course.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are included during the main feature only.

Blink Twice Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster themed artwork, no slipcover, and a Digital Copy. Unfortunately, no bonus features are included -- not exactly surprising for an Amazon/MGM title, but disappointing nonetheless.

Blink Twice Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Zoë Kravitz's Blink Twice feels like it could have been a confident debut for the actor-turned-director who, along with co-writer E.T. Feigenbaum, takes the creative reins on an audacious and unsettling thriller with emotional ties to films like Get Out and I Spit On Your Grave. Sadly, the film's slow start, pacing issues, and extremely questionable third-act twist leave a bitter aftertaste and not even necessarily in hindsight, but its striking atmosphere and several committed performances at least elevate the material to sporadically decent heights. It's not enough to consider Blink Twice some kind of modern classic and especially not enough to make MGM's featureless Blu-ray a recommended blind buy, even though it sports reliably solid technical merits. This one's for established fans only.