From one filmmaker to another, Taylor Swift is giving one of her besties, Zoë Kravitz, the highest praise for her directorial debut, Blink Twice, out this weekend. However, Swift isn’t the only member of her inner circle endorsing the project; Kravitz’s fiance, Channing Tatum, is starring in the film, making all of it a family affair. Or at least a reunion with matching t-shirts. As we eagerly await for her father’s scarf walk to walk the red carpet, the reviews are in and people are very much comparing Blink Twice to Get Out and Promising Young Woman. The movie follows a young woman (Naomi Ackie) who gets invited by a billionaire (Tatum) to his private island where everything is not as it seems. Here’s what the critics thought of Kravitz’s social thriller, including Professor Swift’s full review.
“Going into Blink Twice — previously and more richly titled Pussy Island — I was curious about star Channing Tatum’s heel turn. Here was Hollywood’s favorite affable himbo choosing to play a dangerous billionaire tech bro capable of entrapping young women, thus flipping his image as a sweet-natured golden retriever of a man, bolstered and refined by the Magic Mike films that positioned him as keenly interested in female pleasure. When it came to the actor turned writer-director (turned Tatum’s romantic partner in the process) Zoë Kravitz, I had enjoyed her as a red-carpet fixture with sharp cheekbones and a vibe so chill she reads as disaffected. After she put her own spin on a slinky Catwoman in The Batman (2022) and played the agoraphobe in Steven Soderbergh’s thrilling Kimi (2022), I started to be intrigued by her potential as a storyteller, too, who could do more than produce an alluring but thinly drawn vibe. But when I heard she’d be directing Blink Twice (co-written by Kravitz and E.T. Feigenbaum), an immediate question came to mind: Can a woman like her — who has been ensconced in a wealth and visibility most Black girls will never experience thanks to her ultracool parents, actress Lisa Bonet and musician Lenny Kravitz — meaningfully critique the intersections of wealth, misogyny, and control that its eat-the-rich premise promised?” — Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture
“This film is incredible. Thrilling, twisted, wickedly funny, and visually stunning. The performances are phenomenal. @zoeisabellakravitz conceptualized this, wrote it, obsessed over every detail, and directed it with such a clear and bold vision. I’m so blown away by what she’s accomplished here and I can’t wait to watch everyone discover this film and this brilliant filmmaker,” — Taylor Swift, Eras Tour
“Blink Twice falters when the emotional terror of Frida’s situation gives way to perfunctory horror-movie thrills. The film suggests that Frida’s unease comes from a cocktail of terrible societal truths: Her gender and occupation make her an easy target, Slater’s wealth and crew of yes-men protect him from taking full accountability for his flaws, and women have long been, in a twisted form of self-defense, conditioned to rationalize threatening behavior. But though Kravitz stages some impressively bloody sequences in the movie’s final acts, the violence feels rushed. The script, by Kravitz and E. T. Feigenbaum, becomes overstuffed with one too many subplots involving thinly drawn characters played by actors worthy of much meatier parts, including Haley Joel Osment, Kyle MacLachlan, and Geena Davis. As a result, those earlier, more trenchant observations about Frida’s plight are underbaked by the story’s end.” — Shirley Li, The Atlantic
“Blink Twice, directed with striking assurance by Zoë Kravitz (who’s engaged to Tatum), can best be thought of as a feminist Get Out. It’s a wild, weird horror ride that borders on fairy-tale nightmare and maybe even biblical allegory (the island is home to a snake that, like Satan in the Garden of Eden, can make a hell out of paradise).” — Tom Gliatto, People
“Blink Twice clearly has thoughts about the danger that men can pose and the way women are forced to perform happiness while in the company of such predators, but it never provides more than a surface-level understanding of such dynamics. You hold out hope that the film will dig deeper, and by the time you realize that it won’t, you’re arrived at the obligatory unleashing of Girl Boss vengeance that, as a result, offers neither satisfying catharsis nor meaningful satire.” — Ross McIndoe, Slant Magazine
“This modus operandi is one reason of many why Kravitz’s smart, savvy, white-knuckler of a thriller will likely get compared to Get Out, and while Jordan Peele’s instant classic has had an overwhelming influence on socially informed scary movies, it’s left a particularly profound imprint on this satirical, highly unsettling tale of “safe” spaces that are anything but. Few films have taken such good advantage of that earlier movie’s structure — and, more importantly, channeled the vibe so astutely — than this toxic-masculinity-in-sheep’s-clothing takedown. And you’ll get the same sensation watching an actor-turned-director nail a tricky tone with such confidence and brio their first time out as well. Kravitz knows exactly how to set this up. And exactly how to knock you down.” — David Fear, Rolling Stone
“Blink Twice is a big swing for [Tatum] as an actor and even a bigger one for Kravitz, his life partner, as director and co-writer of this stylish, ambitious, buzzy film that seems to aspire to be a gender-themed Get Out, or a #MeToo-era thriller with echoes of Promising Young Woman. And Kravitz almost pulls it off. With the help of a terrific cast, she offers strikingly confident, brashly entertaining filmmaking, until everything seems to break down in a mess of porous storytelling. It’s not the sudden intrusion of gore that’s the issue — this is a horror film, duh. It’s the sudden departure of logic. Perhaps you won’t be able to turn away — but, unlike in Jordan Peele’s or Emerald Fennell’s above-mentioned films, you won’t necessarily be able to explain what you saw, either.” — Jocelyn Noveck, AP
“For her directorial debut, Blink Twice, actor and reluctantly labelled nepo baby Zoë Kravitz has arrived at the table with a plate that’s stacked precariously high. It’s a tart, topical thriller sat in a Venn diagram between the many recent “eat the rich” satires (a subgenre that’s taken us from the heady highs of Triangle of Sadness to the limp lows of Saltburn) and the post-Get Out #MeToo-inflected social thrillers (from the overrated Promising Young Woman to the underrated Fresh). It’s also about contemporary horror’s favourite buzzword, “trauma”, and also inspired by Jeffrey Epstein and his private island. It’s about misogyny and abuse and memory and materialism and gender performance and many other things that would be a spoiler to mention. It’s therefore less of a plate and more of a buffet, and while it might be beautifully served, it’s a film about excess that suffers from it too, a case of too much leaving us with too little.” — Benjamin Lee, The Guardian
“Blink Twice proves that Zoë Kravitz is not just an obsessive cinephile, but a sponge. She has clearly honed techniques from the films she loves, finally gotten to a place where she felt confident that she could create something of her own. But though certainly diverting, Blink Twice still very much comes across like the film of an obsessive cinephile, a debut transparent in its collage—an experiment in pulling from what works and what doesn’t work in the films its director has seen before. Its biggest weakness is that it doesn’t feel like Kravitz is adding anything of herself to the film, rather merely suggesting her tastes. But it’s also obvious that Blink Twice comes from a place of ambition, one somewhat defiant of the modern mainstream. Blink Twice is undeniably palate-cleansing when compared with the surplus of sexless legacy sequels, romance novel adaptations, and dull–looking, repetitive franchise installments. Even if it’s simply drawing inspiration from superior films, Blink Twice uses these touchstones to create something appealing and original. At the very least, it marks an exciting first step for a director who’s got the skill to make something better.” — Brianna Zigler, AV Club
