View source for Blink Twice

{{Infobox film|image=Blink Twice.jpg|aspect ratio=2.39:1|rating={{R}}|location={{Mexico}}|caption=Theatrical release poster|director=[[Zoë Kravitz]]|producer=* [[Bruce Cohen]]
* Tiffany Persons
* Garret Levitz
* Zoë Kravitz
* [[Channing Tatum]]|writer=* Zoë Kravitz
* E.T. Feigenbaum|starring=* [[Naomi Ackie]] 
* Channing Tatum
* [[Christian Slater]]
* [[Simon Rex]]
* [[Adria Arjona]]
* [[Kyle MacLachlan]]
* [[Haley Joel Osment]]
* [[Geena Davis]]
* [[Alia Shawkat]]|music=[[Chanda Dancy]]|cinematography=Adam Newport-Berra|editing=Kathryn J. Schubert|studio=* [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]]
* Free Association
* this is important
* Bold Choices|distributor=* [[Amazon MGM Studios]] (United States)
* [[Warner Bros. Pictures]] (International)|release=August 8, 2024 ([[Directors Guild of America|DGA Theater]])<br>
August 23, 2024 (United States)|runtime=102 minutes<ref>{{Cite web|date=August 13, 2024|title=''Blink Twice'' (15)|url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/blink-twice-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdixmjm3|access-date=August 13, 2024|website=[[British Board of Film Classification|BBFC]]|archive-date=August 13, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240813163751/https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/blink-twice-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdixmjm3|url-status=live}}</ref>|country=United States|language=English|budget=$20 million<ref name="BOProj">{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2024/film/box-office/box-office-blink-twice-crow-middling-opening-weekend-1236112687/|title=Box Office: ''Blink Twice'' and ''The Crow'' to Close Strong Summer Movie Season With a Whimper|date=August 20, 2024|first=Rebecca|last=Rubin|website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|access-date=August 20, 2024|archive-date=August 21, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240821001006/https://variety.com/2024/film/box-office/box-office-blink-twice-crow-middling-opening-weekend-1236112687/|url-status=live}}</ref>|gross=$43.4 million<ref name="NUM">{{Cite web |title= Blink Twice – Financial Information |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Blink-Twice-(2024)#tab=summary |website=[[The Numbers (website)|The Numbers]] |access-date=September 18, 2024}}</ref><ref name="BOM">{{Cite Box Office Mojo |id=14858658|title=Blink Twice|access-date=September 18, 2024}}</ref>}}

'''''Blink Twice''''' is a 2024 American [[psychological thriller]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Blink Twice review: 'Stylish and savage enough to gain a cult following' |url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20240821-blink-twice-review-stylish-and-savage-enough-to-gain-a-cult-following |website=BBC.com |quote=Blink Twice is a mind-bending black comedy-thriller |access-date=2024-08-28 }}</ref> film directed by [[Zoë Kravitz]], in her directorial debut, from a script she wrote with E.T. Feigenbaum. The film stars [[Naomi Ackie]], [[Channing Tatum]], [[Christian Slater]], [[Simon Rex]], [[Adria Arjona]], [[Haley Joel Osment]], [[Kyle MacLachlan]], [[Geena Davis]], and [[Alia Shawkat]]. It tells the story of a group of people invited to the private island of a billionaire tech mogul as something strange happens with the female attendees.

''Blink Twice'' premiered at the [[Directors Guild of America|DGA Theater]] in Los Angeles on August 8, 2024, and was released in the United States on August 23 by [[Amazon MGM Studios]] through [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]]. The film has grossed over $43 million worldwide on a $20 million production budget, and received generally positive reviews from critics.

== Plot ==
Animal-themed nail artist and cocktail waitress Frida works an exclusive event with her friend Jess. She encounters billionaire tech mogul Slater King, who recently stepped down as CEO amid a public apology for unspecified past behavior. He invites them both to his private island.

There, Slater's assistant Stacy confiscates their phones. In attendance are Slater's friends and business partners, photographer Vic, private chef Cody, DJ Tom, and graduate Lucas, as well as three female guests: reality show star Sarah, aspiring app developer Camilla, and lawyer/stoner Heather. The women are treated with lavish rooms, gift bags of perfume, and a holiday experience, enhanced by high-end meals and cocktails prepared by Cody, and potent hallucinogenic drugs.

Frida clashes with Sarah over Slater's attention while Jess notices memory lapses. All of the local workers sport the same snake tattoo, and Frida has strange encounters with a maid, who seems to recognize her and calls her "Red Rabbit".

Slater's therapist Rich visits and receives a red gift bag. During a night of partying and drugs, Jess is bitten by a snake and later tells Frida she wants to leave. At breakfast, Frida notices that Lucas smells like the women's perfume. While the men are away fishing, Frida discovers a room with dozens of identical red gift bags.

Frida is tricked into drinking snake venom by the maid and begins remembering strange events. She realizes that Jess is missing, although none of the other women remember her at all. Alarmed, Frida investigates and learns a flower indigenous to the island capable of wiping memories has been inside their food and perfume. She convinces Sarah of what is happening and gets her to drink the venom, an antidote to the flower's effects.

The men return as Frida and Sarah grow more paranoid. The pair trick the other women, including Stacy, into drinking shots of the venom to restore their memories. Frida sneaks into Slater's office to retrieve their phones, only to find they are out of power and service.

Frida's full memories return, revealing the men have been sexually assaulting them every night and wiping their memories using the flower. When Jess's memories could not be erased due to the venom, they killed her. Frida also finds polaroids featuring different women and men with red gift bags, revealing that Slater is inviting guests to rape people regularly and gifting them perfume to use when they are away from the island.

Frida and Sarah attempt to buy time for themselves as Camilla and Heather's memories return, leading Camilla to stab Tom to death while Heather badly injures Vic before being shot dead by Stan, Slater's security guard and former Marine. Slater kills Camilla and the men hide in Slater's villa where he mocks Lucas for choosing to be inactively complicit in the abuse by doing nothing to help the women.

Stacy attacks Frida, preferring to be ignorant of the men's behavior, so Frida stabs her to death. Stan chases Frida but is bludgeoned to death by Sarah, who takes his gun; Cody escapes to the woods but is presumably killed by Sarah. In the villa, Lucas tries to escape but is mistakenly shot in a trap set for Slater by Frida and Sarah; afterward, Slater traps Frida in the villa.

It is revealed that Frida had been on the island the year before and experienced the same events, biting off Vic's pinky finger and scarring her head on a rock before her memories were wiped. The maid recognized Frida from her red rabbit fingernails.

Slater laughs off his recent apology, declaring forgetting is better than forgiveness, before leaving for Sarah. While he is gone, Frida laces his vape with the memory-erasing perfume. The effects make him forget the previous events and panic upon seeing the bodies. Slater slips, knocks himself unconscious as the villa catches fire. The two women escape, leaving Vic to die, but Frida saves Slater.

Some time later, Rich, who also assaulted Frida on the island, encounters a noticeably disoriented Slater. Frida is now married to Slater and is CEO, all while drugging his vape with the flower to keep him compliant.

== Cast ==
{{Castlist|* [[Naomi Ackie]] as Frida
* [[Channing Tatum]] as Slater King
* [[Alia Shawkat]] as Jess
* [[Christian Slater]] as Vic
* [[Simon Rex]] as Cody
* [[Adria Arjona]] as Sarah
* [[Haley Joel Osment]] as Tom
* Liz Caribel as Camilla
* [[Levon Hawke]] as Lucas
* Trew Mullen as Heather
* [[Geena Davis]] as Stacy
* [[Kyle MacLachlan]] as Rich
* Cris Costa as Stan
* [[María Elena Olivares]] as badass maid
* [[Saul Williams]] as emcee
* Tiffany Persons as interviewer
* [[Aaron Himelstein]] as asshole manager
* [[Zoë Kravitz]] as swanky stewardess}}

== Production ==
[[Zoë Kravitz]] started writing ''Blink Twice'' under the [[working title]] ''Pussy Island'' in 2017. In June 2021, Kravitz announced that she would make her directorial debut with the film from a script co-written with E.T. Feigenbaum. [[Channing Tatum]] signed on to star and, at the [[Cannes Film Market]], [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]] won the distribution rights as [[Naomi Ackie]] was cast as Frida, the film's lead role. The rest of the cast was announced from May to June 2022, with Jordan Harkins and Stacy Perskie joining the film as executive producers.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Grobar |first1=Matt |title=Christian Slater, Alia Shawkat, Geena Davis, Haley Joel Osment & Kyle MacLachlan Among Final Additions To Zoë Kravitz's Directorial Debut ''Pussy Island'' For MGM |url=https://deadline.com/2022/07/christian-slater-geena-davis-alia-shawkat-more-join-pussy-island-1235058435/ |website=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |access-date=6 July 2022 |date=July 6, 2022 |archive-date=6 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706175045/https://deadline.com/2022/07/christian-slater-geena-davis-alia-shawkat-more-join-pussy-island-1235058435/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Filming began on June 23, 2022,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Devore |first1=Britta |title=Zoë Kravitz's Directorial Debut ''Pussy Island'' Begins Filming |url=https://collider.com/zoe-kravitz-pussy-island-production-start/ |website=[[Collider (website)|Collider]] |access-date=7 July 2022 |date=June 24, 2022 |archive-date=7 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707061101/https://collider.com/zoe-kravitz-pussy-island-production-start/ |url-status=live }}</ref> with production occurring in [[Yucatán]] and [[Quintana Roo]], Mexico. In January 2024, the film's title was changed from ''Pussy Island'' to ''Blink Twice'';<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/zoe-kravitz-channing-tatum-moive-pussy-island-new-title-8550522|title=''Pussy Island'', Zoë Kravitz's directorial debut starring Channing Tatum, gets new title|date=January 26, 2024|first=Dustin|last=Nelson|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|access-date=August 22, 2024|archive-date=August 22, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240822112226/https://ew.com/zoe-kravitz-channing-tatum-moive-pussy-island-new-title-8550522|url-status=live}}</ref> Kravitz explained that issues formed with the [[Motion Picture Association]] (MPA) "not wanting to put it on a poster, or a billboard, or a kiosk; movie theaters not wanting to put it on a ticket" but also mentioned, "Interestingly enough, after researching it, women were offended by the word, and women seeing the title were saying, 'I don't want to see that movie,' which is part of the reason I wanted to try and use the word, which is trying to reclaim the word, and not make it something that we're so uncomfortable using. But we're not there yet. And I think that's something I have the responsibility as a filmmaker to listen to."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/zoe-kravitz-why-blink-twice-couldnt-use-original-title-pussy-island-8674972|title=Zoë Kravitz explains why directorial debut ''Blink Twice'' couldn't use original title ''Pussy Island'' (exclusive)|date=July 9, 2024|first=Sydney|last=Bucksbaum|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|access-date=August 22, 2024|archive-date=August 25, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240825205456/https://ew.com/zoe-kravitz-why-blink-twice-couldnt-use-original-title-pussy-island-8674972|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Release ==
''Blink Twice'' premiered at the [[Directors Guild of America|DGA Theater]] in [[Los Angeles]] on August 8, 2024, and it was released in the United States by [[Amazon MGM Studios]] on August 23, 2024, with [[Warner Bros. Pictures]] releasing the film internationally on August 21, 2024.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://collider.com/blink-twice-zoe-kravitz-everything-we-know/|title=What's Going on With Channing Tatum in Zoë Kravitz's Directorial Debut, 'Blink Twice'?|website=[[Collider (website)|Collider]]|date=24 April 2024 |accessdate=April 25, 2024|archive-date=April 27, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240427030514/https://collider.com/blink-twice-zoe-kravitz-everything-we-know/|url-status=live}}</ref> On August 21, Amazon issued a [[trigger warning]] for the film on [[Twitter]] for "mature themes and depictions of violence — including sexual violence", which ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' noted was rare for a studio to do but part of a growing trend in Hollywood beyond [[MPA rating]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2024/film/news/blink-twice-trigger-warning-sexual-violence-amazon-1236114152/|title=Zoë Kravitz's ''Blink Twice'' Issues Trigger Warning for 'Sexual Violence' and 'Mature Themes' Ahead of Release|date=August 21, 2024|first=Ethan|last=Shanfeld|website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|access-date=August 22, 2024|archive-date=August 22, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240822011656/https://variety.com/2024/film/news/blink-twice-trigger-warning-sexual-violence-amazon-1236114152/|url-status=live}}</ref> The warning was also attached before theatrical screenings.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Colangelo |first=B. J. |date=2024-08-24 |title=Why Blink Twice Has A Trigger Warning (And Why It's Caused Controversy) |url=https://www.slashfilm.com/1649800/blink-twice-trigger-warning-controversy/ |access-date=2024-08-29 |website=SlashFilm |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Reception ==

===Box office===
{{As of|2024|9|17|df=US}}, ''Blink Twice'' has grossed $22.3&nbsp;million in the United States and Canada, and $21.1&nbsp;million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $43.4&nbsp;million.

In the United States and Canada, ''Blink Twice'' was released alongside ''[[The Crow (2024)|The Crow]]'' and ''[[The Forge]]'', and was projected to gross $7–8 million from 3,067 theaters in its opening weekend.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2024/08/alien-romulus-blink-twice-channing-tatum-box-office-1236046878/|title='Alien: Romulus' To Continue Face-Hug Of Box Office Despite Three Wide Entries As Summer Slows Down|date=August 22, 2024|first=Anthony|last=D'Alessandro|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|access-date=August 22, 2024|archive-date=August 22, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240822012317/https://deadline.com/2024/08/alien-romulus-blink-twice-channing-tatum-box-office-1236046878/|url-status=live}}</ref> The film made $2.9 million on its first day, including an estimated $820,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $7.3 million, finishing fourth at the box office.<ref name="opening">{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2024/08/box-office-blink-twice-channing-tatum-the-crow-alien-1236048699/|title=''Deadpool & Wolverine'' Pulling Feathers Off ''The Crow'' & Putting ''Blink Twice'' To Sleep As Summer Winds Down – Sunday AM Box Office|date=August 25, 2024|first=Anthony|last=D'Alessandro|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|access-date=August 25, 2024|archive-date=August 23, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240823145927/https://deadline.com/2024/08/box-office-blink-twice-channing-tatum-the-crow-alien-1236048699/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2024W34/|title=Domestic 2024 Weekend 34|website=[[Box Office Mojo]]|access-date=August 26, 2024}}</ref> The film made $4.8 million in its second weekend.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2024W35/|title=Domestic 2024 Weekend 35|website=[[Box Office Mojo]]|access-date=September 8, 2024}}</ref>
===Critical response===
{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|74|6.7|205|access-date=August 16, 2024|A bold and memorable debut that thrusts Zoë Kravitz into the turf of directors to watch, ''Blink Twice'' is a live wire of a film.|ref=yes}} {{Metacritic film prose|66|45|ref=yes|access-date=August 23, 2024}} Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale, while those at [[PostTrak]] gave the film an overall positive score of 74% (including an average of 3 out of 5 stars), with 50% saying they would definitely recommend it.<ref name="opening" />

== Trailer ==
<gallery>
File:BLINK TWICE - Official Trailer
File:BLINK TWICE - Official Trailer 2
</gallery>

== External links ==
*{{IMDb title}}

== References ==
<references />
[[Category:2024 films]]
[[Category:Films Starring Naomi Ackie]]
[[Category:Films Starring Channing Tatum]]
[[Category:Films Starring Christian Slater]]
[[Category:Films Starring Simon Rex]]
[[Category:Films Starring Adria Arjona]]
[[Category:Films Starring Kyle MacLachlan]]
[[Category:Films Starring Haley Joel Osment]]
[[Category:Films Starring Alia Shawkat]]
[[Category:Films Starring Geena Davis]]
[[Category:Films Starring Levon Hawke]]
[[Category:2024 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:Amazon MGM Studios films]]
[[Category:American black comedy films]]
[[Category:American psychological thriller films]]
[[Category:Films shot in Mexico]]
[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films]]
[[Category:FilmNation Entertainment films]]
[[Category:Pages containing Mature Content]]
[[Category:Rated R]]
[[Category:2.39:1 Aspect Ratio Films]]
[[Category:Psychological thriller films]]
[[Category:Mystery films]]
[[Category:Thriller films]]