Zoë Kravitz makes a killer directing debut with “Blink Twice,” a ripped-from-the-headlines thriller with glimmers of “Get Out” and “The White Lotus.”
Often, when actors lurk to the shadows behind the camera, they wind up with a film that’s either kindergarten simple or far too complicated so as to prove they’ve got skills.
Kravitz, however, has a natural cinematic flair for blending rich performances with seedy-sumptuous visuals that go down a treat.
Gradually, a luxurious private island turns from a dream getaway to the seventh level of hell — albeit a netherworld with free-flowing Champagne and a pool.
That secluded isle belongs to Slater King (Channing Tatum), a dapper entrepreneur with untold wealth and popular appeal.
Being Hollywood’s teddy bear with abs, Tatum is both shrewd and unexpected casting in a role that’s more than meets the eye.
Two cater-waiters, Frida (Naomi Ackie) and Jess (Alia Shawkat), swap their aprons for frocks at a Manhattan gala for a chance at meeting the handsome host. Slater and Frida hit it off, and soon they are on his jet to an unknown location.
The women are the sort who, normally, would not venture off with a man they’ve never met to an undisclosed foreign land. But his money and power, they figure, provide an adequate enough background check.
The well-heeled vacationers are a mix of Slater’s bro-y friends and associates. There’s blunt Vic (Christian Slater), possessive Cody (Simon Rex), hapless Tom (Haley Joel Osment) and fresh-faced, naïve Lucas (Levon Hawke).
Also brought along is a group of women who lounge by the pool, wear the same provided white bikinis and evening dresses and are never without a glass of champs: standoffish Sarah (Adria Arjona) and pot-loving Camilla (Liz Caribel) and Heather (Trew Mullen).
A couple corporate types show up, too. Geena Davis is hilariously spot-on as Slater’s high-strung manager named Stacy. And Kyle McLachlan echoes spooky Aldous Huxley figures as Rich the therapist.
Their days, like those of many trips, are repetitive: wake up hungover, swim, fancy dinner, booze. Then the ladies, whose phones were confiscated upon arrival, begin to sense something is afoot.
Something to note is that what starts as a light and laughy millennial gal-pal comedy — and there are jokes right till the end — becomes potentially difficult viewing for some. With billionaires, private islands and jets, you can probably guess the obvious parallel.
Even so, Kravitz has fashioned a highly entertaining movie out of that trauma that unnerves throughout with its quick cuts and sound design. Popped corks, placed dishes and opened doors blare like semi-truck horns.
Ackie, who was done a terrible disservice by the dismal Whitney Houston biopic she starred in, makes an ideal horror heroine: likable, clever and formidable.
And Shawkat is right at home in this combo platter of her screen career. There’s both an “Arrested Development”-style satire of the obtuse rich and a “Search Party”-esque comment on adrift millennials in “Blink Twice.” Not to mention its canny blend of fear and funny.
The wrap-up is strong — and violent — with one exciting twist. If there is a ding against the film it’s that it conjures memories of other movies and shows with mighty similar points of view and executions.
Nevertheless it’s an impressive first effort from Kravitz that, like the island and the women, immediately has us in its grip.
