Frida (Naomi Ackie) and her gal pal Jess (Alia Shawkat) are two young ladies trying to make ends meet. When they get a job hostessing at a fundraising gala they come in contact with Slater King (Channing Tatum). The tech billionaire is fighting the cancel culture after a transgression that is never fully explained and the fundraiser is part of his road back. After their paths cross, King invites them to his island for a weekend of excess.

Once on the island, things seem too good to be true but as the days add up so does the sense of dread. Kravitz and company are masterful at building tension and even the most mundane action is handled in such a way as to add to the feeling of unease. This sensation builds and builds. The resolution only happens at the film’s end. The clues were there but the truth always seemed out of reach.

The aura of the monstrous actions of the late Jeffrey Epstein is never far from the surface and this only adds to the horror on screen. Equal parts fascinating and disturbing, Blink Twice is one of those oh-so-rare works that actually surprises you at the film’s end. It will leave you unsure if you loved the movie or were repulsed by it. Hours later after viewing it, I’m still unsure.
Rob Hudson
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The film’s ensemble cast includes BAFTA winner Naomi Ackie (“The End of the F***ing World,” “Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody”), Channing Tatum (the “Magic Mike” films, “The Lost City”), Golden Globe winner Christian Slater (“Mr. Robot”), Simon Rex (“Red Rocket”), Adria Arjona (“Andor”), Kyle MacLachlan (“Fallout,” “The House with the Clock in Its Walls”), with Oscar winner Geena Davis (“The Accidental Tourist”), and Alia Shawkat (“Drift,” “Search Party”).

When tech billionaire Slater King (Tatum) meets cocktail waitress Frida (Ackie) at his fundraising gala, sparks fly. He invites her to join him and his friends on a dream vacation on his private island. It’s paradise. Wild nights blend into sun soaked days and everyone’s having a great time. No one wants this trip to end, but as strange things start to happen, Frida begins to question her reality. There is something wrong with this place. She’ll have to uncover the truth if she wants to make it out of this party alive.

The “Blink Twice” screenplay is from Kravitz & E.T. Feigenbaum (“High Fidelity”), and the film is produced by Bruce Cohen, Tiffany Persons, Garret Levitz, Kravitz and Tatum. The executive producers are Stacy Perskie, Jordan Harkins and Vania Schlogel.

Kravitz’s creative team include Camerimage-nominated director of photography Adam Newport-Berra (“The Last Black Man in San Francisco”), production designer Roberto Bonelli (“Placa de Acero,” Ariel winner for art direction on “Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths”), editor Kathryn J. Schubert (“Out of the Blue,” “Bad Things”) and costume designer Kiersten Hargroder (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” “Supergirl”). The music is by Chanda Dancy (“Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody”).

AMAZON MGM STUDIOS Presents a FREE ASSOCIATION / this is important / BOLD CHOICE Production, “Blink Twice.” The film is distributed internationally by Warner Bros. Pictures and will be only in cinemas 22 August 2024.
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He invites her to join him and his friends on a dream vacation on his private island. It’s paradise. Wild nights blend into sun soaked days and everyone’s having a great time. No one wants this trip to end, but as strange things start to happen, Frida begins to question her reality.

There is something wrong with this place. She’ll have to uncover the truth if she wants to make it out of this party alive.

With an ensemble cast including Naomi Ackie, Channing Tatum, Alia Shawkat, Simon Rex, Adria Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, Christian Slater, Kyle MacLachlan and Geena Davis, BLINK TWICE is a wild new psychological thriller directed by Zoë Kravitz.
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The film is the debut feature of cinematographer Sean Price Williams, (best known for his work with the Safdie brothers), from a screenplay by Nick Pinkerton and stars Talia Ryder, Earl Cave, Simon Rex, Ayo Edebiri, Jacob Elordi, Jeremy O Harris and I Rish Shah.

The Sweet East had its World Premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival Directors Fortnight, its US Premiere at the 2023 New York Film Festival and has just released in the UK.
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He sets about to make some hardscrabble profits from selling weed, one spliff at a time. In his travels, he comes across the fresh-faced young thing Strawberry (Suzanna Son) working behind the counter of a doughnut shop. He proceeds to seduce her with his bad-boy charm. What at first seems innocent enough soon turns dark as his intentions become clear.

The film presents that feeling of being repulsed by its characters as their world is a grotty one and their actions almost always have an undercurrent of malice. Like the feeling of not being able to look away from a car accident, you get drawn into their actions both good and bad. On paper, they seem repulsive but in the flesh, they become strangely intoxicating.

Sean Baker continues on the loser porn route he set about with The Florida Project and fills his work with perfectly cast non-actors that sell the feeling of disadvantage. If the intent is to make you feel better about yourself in comparison, job well done. If it’s to elicit a sense of concern for the vastly increasing underclass in America, job also accomplished. It’s this duality that is at the heart of Baker’s art.

Rob Hudson
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Red Rocket is directed by Sean Baker and stars Simon Rex, Bree Elrod and Suzanna Son.

Red Rocket releases in Australia, only in cinemas, on January 6, 2022.
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