It’s been a while since a movie really caught my attention, but Blink Twice (2024) is one of the few recent releases that genuinely stands out. In a year full of remakes and predictable thrillers, Blink Twice actually has a pulse. It has intention. It has something to say.
And most importantly, it sticks with you. The film seduces you the way the island seduces the characters. It feels safe, calm, even glamorous… until it doesn’t.
This film is about a young woman and her roommate (Frida and Jess) who get invited to the private island of a handsome billionaire (Slater King). Everything goes perfect, a little too perfect. The host is so charming, the staff is attentive, and everyone seems to be having the time of their lives.
But as the days go on, strange things start happening. Gaps in her memory, off-hand comments that don’t sit right, behaviors that feel rehearsed, and an overall sense that the island is running on rules no one told them about.
One of the most effective things about Blink Twice is how it weaponizes luxury. The island is stunning like the turquoise water, private chefs, perfect lighting, clothes that look straight out of a resort campaign. Everything is curated to make us (and Frida) relax. It’s like you forget that you’re watching a thriller.That’s the trick.The beauty is the distraction.
The film uses all that glamour to lure us into the same false sense of safety the characters feel and it’s executed beautifully. Every shot feels warm, soft, inviting… until there’s something that feels slightly off.
A glance that lasts too long.
A smile that doesn’t reach the eyes.
A staff member standing just a little too still.
A moment where the music dips into an unsettling note even though nothing “bad” is happening yet.
The danger shows up before the characters ever acknowledge it, but only in the visuals. Some of the things I caught: like the way the camera lingers on the staff watching the guests, the sudden silence in scenes that shouldn’t be silent, the small moments where Frida just looks lost or slightly dazed and the way the island feels too controlled, too polished, almost staged.
The tension is very subtle so you have to be paying close attention to notice it. There’s no loud shock moment. It’s psychological. It’s the kind of thriller that relies more on the atmosphere and emotional unease than jump scares, and that’s what makes it work.
I love that this film explores different things fromclass dynamics, manipulation dressed as generosity, grooming and power imbalance, the way women are conditioned to ignore their instincts and how how wealth can erase accountability.
It’s very impossible to watch Blink Twice without noticing how reminiscent the vibes are of the scandals surrounding Diddy and Jeffrey Epstein. The film doesn’t name drop them of course, but the references are unmistakable. It’s almost intentional.
The private island, the curated parties, the “generosity” that feels more like grooming, the staff trained to enable silence, it’s all taken straight from the stories we’ve watched play out in real time.
The billionaire in the film, Slater King, is charming in that dangerous way where you can’t tell where charisma ends and manipulation begins. That’s exactly what makes the parallels hit so hard.
The movie isn’t just telling a fictional story, it’s commenting on a very real pattern in our culture and thats is that men with money and influence creating environments where accountability doesn’t exist.
The entire island runs on one man’s desires. You feel how dangerous it is when someone with unlimited resources also has unlimited access to vulnerable people.
It forces us to confront the uncomfortable truth that these systems don’t break because they’re built to protect the abuser, not the abused. The movie magnifies that power imbalance in a way that feels disturbingly familiar.
One of the strongest parts of the movie is how the women slowly come into their own power, especially after realizing how deeply they’ve been manipulated. Those scenes hit so hard, they’re raw, emotional, and honestly, totally badass.
You can literally feel the shift in the energy on the island when they stop being passive and start reclaiming control. It’s the kind of moment that makes you want to cheer, because seeing them finally fight back after all that evil is unbelievably satisfying.
It’s not a perfect film, and honestly, that’s fine, the imperfections add to the conversation too. Some plot points feel slightly rushed near the end.
The reveal of the grooming, drugging, and memory manipulation is really dark and layered, but the movie doesn’t give enough time for the emotional fallout. We go from quiet dread to full-on chaos in a matter of minutes.
A few characters could’ve been more developed as well like Slater King and his circle, his Staff and even Jess. We don’t fully know their stories, their motivations and what actually happened leading up to Jess’s death.
People naturally want to understand the WHY behind evil actions and behavior. It’s not that the film needed to explain everything, but those details would’ve added more depth and weight to the story.
You can definitely tell that the writing was a bit rushed, because a lot of the characters weren’t fully fleshed out. A much deeper psychological portrait could have elevated the entire film, especially since it is already mimicking real-life stories.
But nevertheless, I still very much enjoyed it. For Zoë Kravitz’s first film, she did really well.
Blink Twice is the kind of movie that reminds you how powerful psychological thrillers can be when they trust the audience. It doesn’t spoon-feed you. It lets you feel the discomfort and piece things together yourself.
A rare standout in recent cinema.
Honestly, Vanessa 