“Blink Twice” — Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut — may excite and provoke, but for many critics, it’s more visually appealing than thematically striking.
The #MeToo thriller, which also served as the launchpad for the off-screen romance between Kravitz and star Channing Tatum, sees the latter as a tech billionaire who invites Naomi Ackie’s Frida to join his entourage on a private island, where strange happenings eventually lead to her fight for survival.
As of Friday afternoon, the “live wire of a film” — which hit theaters this week — boasted a 77% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics dubbing the flick “a bold and memorable debut that thrusts Zoë Kravitz into the turf of directors to watch.”
However, while visually compelling, some have called out the film’s breakdown in storytelling, the script for which Kravitz also co-wrote.
The Associated Press gave the movie 2.5 out of 4 stars, praising the “terrific cast” and Kravitz’s “brashly entertaining filmmaking,” but noted the film’s “sudden departure of logic.”
“Kravitz almost pulls it off,” wrote AP review Jocelyn Noveck. “Perhaps you won’t be able to turn away … [but] you won’t necessarily be able to explain what you saw, either.”
The BBC lauded the film as “stylish and savage enough to gain a cult following,” but says its “cluttered” concepts eventually overwhelm the plot — though “the finale wraps things up brilliantly.”
While the Chicago Sun-Times hailed the “striking visuals and smart dialogue” possessed by the “gonzo directorial debut,” The Guardian considered the film “less of a plate and more of a buffet” that “suffers from” the excess of societal critiques.
That sentiment was shared both by the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, with the former equating the film to “a lesser episode of ‘Black Mirror,’ only twice as long.”
The film focuses more “on vibes without moving the plot forward,” the WSJ said, with the Times agreeing it “exists more as a concept than a complete idea.”
The Chicago Tribune found the movie to be “cathartic,” while The Daily Beast thought its “sleek style” compromised the impact of its “eventual horrors.”
The Washington Post, which gave the film just 2 out of 4 stars, was more ambivalent, calling “Blink Twice” a “passable time-waster,” but said “it might be better if we just forgot the whole thing.”
Noting the film is both a “promising directing debut” and “a bit predictable,” ABC News said Kravitz “milks every ounce of suspense out of this #MeToo thriller.”
Rolling Stone meanwhile said she “knows exactly how to set this up. And exactly how to knock you down.”
Bestowing a perfect 5 out of 5 rating, the London Evening Standard said “Blink Twice” is executed “in such an unbelievably entertaining way” that it almost feels wholly fresh, despite its central themes being ones we’ve all seen before.
Variety highlighted the “brash flair” of the female-centric nature of the film, which “turns out to be a feminist allegory of memory.”
For those who only need a strong celebrity endorsement to convince them to head to the theater, noted Kravitz pal Taylor Swift dubbed the “incredible” film “thrilling, twisted, wickedly funny and visually stunning.”
“I’m so blown away by what [Kravitz has] accomplished here and I can’t wait to watch everyone discover this film and this brilliant filmmaker,” the Grammy winner wrote on Instagram Friday.
