Blink Twice review: Channing Tatum thriller is a love it or hate it movie; it's the latter for me

One of the best debuts for a first-time director this century is Jordan Peele's Get Out. So when making her directing debut with Blink Twice, Zoë Kravitz appears to have taken a lot of influence from Peele's Oscar-winning movie. That's a high bar, and unfortunately it's one that Kravitz fails to clear.

Blink Twice is a love it or hate it movie; either you are all in and will thoroughly enjoy its mix of psychological mystery, humor and violence that unfold or you will feel disconnected as the movie's lack of character depth and unbalanced tone make it more of a strained process. I fall in the latter category.

In addition to directing, Kravitz also co-wrote the Blink Twice script with E.T. Feigenbaum. The story follows cocktail waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie) as she meets and charms the tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum) at a gala event. After hitting it off, Slater invites Frida and her friend Jess (Alia Shawkat) to his private island for a weekend getaway with his friends. But what seems like paradise soon becomes unsettlingly as Jess disappears but only Frida can seem to remember her. Blink Twice also stars Adria Arjona, Christian Slater, Simon Rex, Geena Davis, Haley Joel Osment, Liz Caribel, Levon Hawke, Trew Mullen and Kyle MacLachlan.

Despite Frida being the lead character, it doesn't feel like we get to truly know her. She clearly seeks a better life for herself, which is why she wants to draw the attention of Slater, but save from a nod to her traumatic childhood and her stated desire to no longer "be invisible" there's little individuality to her character. 

The same can be said for pretty much everyone else. Jess is there more to just comment/warn Frida that these things are weird; Arjona's Sarah is the badass who takes pride in being able to care for herself; and most of the guys are different variations of entitled elites. This very well may be the point, for the group of men and women to symbolize the different archetypes of their genders. But it keeps them at a distance for the audience and makes us care less about what is happening to them as individuals over the course of the story.

Then there's the tonal imbalance, particularly in the second and third act. As things start to get weird and the truth is peeled back layer by layer, Kravitz attempts to keep the movie infused with humor. It feels forced though, with lines being delivered in knowingly jokey fashion to ease the tension. That works on occasion, but they go to that well a few too many times.

Where the movie does deserve some credit is its directness. It is not subtle with its messaging. While sometimes that can be a hindrance, here it is a plus as you're not having to suss out the meaning of what's going on. The message is very clear and that allows you to relish in the mayhem that unfolds once the truth is discovered.

Kravitz didn't go safe with her directorial debut. She took on a story that requires a lot of groundwork for the audience so the payoff can be worth it (to which I'd say she was mostly successful) and is very clear in what it is trying to say. Yet that appeared to come at the expense of characters and a consistent, satisfying tone, which in this case is too much for me to overcome. There may be those who just enjoy it for the experience, but I'd be hard pressed to think it's a movie that sticks around as one we're remembering at the end of the year.

Blink Twice releases exclusively in movie theaters on August 23 in the US and UK.