# Blink Twice
**Blink Twice** is a 2024 American psychological thriller directed by [Zoë Kravitz](https://www.edgepedia.org/zoe-kravitz) in her feature directorial debut, written by Kravitz with E.T. Feigenbaum, and starring [Naomi Ackie](https://www.edgepedia.org/naomi-ackie) as Frida, a cocktail waitress invited to the private island of tech billionaire Slater King, played by [Channing Tatum](https://www.edgepedia.org/channing-tatum).[1](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/blink-twice/) Amazon MGM Studios released it in the United States on August 23, 2024.[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt14858658/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writers | Zoë Kravitz (directorial debut); screenplay by Kravitz and E.T. Feigenbaum[1](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/blink-twice/) |
| Cast | Naomi Ackie (Frida), Channing Tatum (Slater King), Alia Shawkat (Jess), Christian Slater (Vic), Simon Rex (Cody), Adria Arjona (Sarah), Haley Joel Osment (Tom), Geena Davis (Stacy), Kyle MacLachlan (Rich)[1](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/blink-twice/) |
| Release | August 23, 2024 (US), Amazon MGM Studios; earliest release August 21, 2024 (France)[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt14858658/) |
| Box office | $48,093,906 worldwide, of which $23,093,906 domestic; opening weekend $7,301,894[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt14858658/) |
| Format | 103 minutes, rated R; genres listed as mystery and thriller[3](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/blink-twice-film-review-2024) • [2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt14858658/) |
| Critical reception | Metascore 66 from 45 critic reviews (64% positive); Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 74% from 234 reviews[1](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/blink-twice/) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blink_twice) |
| Original title | *Pussy Island*, changed before release[5](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/08/blink-twice-zoe-kravitz-movie-review/679546/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Frida, a broke cater-waiter and nail artist, sneaks into the VIP section of a fundraising gala where she is working, trips, and is helped up by Slater King, a recently disgraced tech billionaire who has issued a public apology for unspecified transgressions, founded a charitable foundation in his name, and announced a retreat to his private island.[6](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/blink-twice-channing-tatum-unconvincing-evil-tech-ceo-this-convoluted-destination-thriller) • [7](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/12/blink-twice-sexual-assault-allegations-2024/680902/) He invites Frida and her best friend Jess ([Alia Shawkat](https://www.edgepedia.org/alia-shawkat)) to join him and his circle on the island, where days of sun and nights of partying blur together.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/blink-twice/)
Midway through the film, Jess disappears and no one except Frida appears to remember her. The truth emerges gradually: Slater and his friends have been drugging the women at the party and sexually assaulting them at night, exploiting the memory-loss-inducing qualities of a rare island flower called desideria. Its amnesiac effect is counteracted by snake venom, which Frida ingests after a well-meaning maid tricks her into it, and she slowly regains her memories through flashbacks.[7](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/12/blink-twice-sexual-assault-allegations-2024/680902/) Slater's circle includes Vic ([Christian Slater](https://www.edgepedia.org/christian-slater)), a photographer who takes Polaroids and mixes drinks; Cody ([Simon Rex](https://www.edgepedia.org/simon-rex)), a chef; Tom ([Haley Joel Osment](https://www.edgepedia.org/haley-joel-osment)), a former child star; and Lucas (Levon Hawke), an ardent fanboy.[7](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/12/blink-twice-sexual-assault-allegations-2024/680902/) Stacy (Geena Davis), Slater's assistant, is shown clumsy and vacant, her mind addled by years of being drugged herself.[7](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/12/blink-twice-sexual-assault-allegations-2024/680902/)
## Development
Kravitz began writing the film in early 2017, at the dawn of the #[MeToo movement](https://www.edgepedia.org/metoo-movement), when ideas about gender and power were prominent in public discussion.[8](https://www.vogue.com/article/zoe-kravitz-naomi-ackie-blink-twice-interview) The project began as a "fever dream novella" that she developed over the years with co-writer E.T. Feigenbaum, who had later been her showrunner on the Hulu series *High Fidelity*; after that series was canceled, the two renewed their effort to bring the film to the screen.[9](https://lwlies.com/interviews/zoe-kravitz-directing-is-what-ive-always-wanted-to-do) The film was originally titled *Pussy Island*, a name Kravitz said she had chosen because she wanted to "reclaim" the profane term; it was retitled *Blink Twice* before release.[5](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/08/blink-twice-zoe-kravitz-movie-review/679546/) Kravitz met her fiancé Channing Tatum while casting the thriller.[10](https://www.tatler.com/article/everything-we-know-about-blink-twice-zoe-kravitz-sinister-directorial-debut)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed to favorable. On Metacritic the film scored 66 out of 100 from 45 critics, with 29 positive, 12 mixed, and 4 negative reviews; the user score was 6.4 from 194 ratings.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/blink-twice/) Rotten Tomatoes recorded a 74% Tomatometer from 234 reviews and a 71% audience score from over 1,000 verified ratings, with the critics consensus calling it "a bold and memorable debut that thrusts Zoë Kravitz into the turf of directors to watch."[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blink_twice) [Individual](https://www.edgepedia.org/individual) scores ranged from 100 (Total Film) and 91 (IndieWire) down to 25 (RogerEbert.com), whose reviewer wrote that the film "sucker punches the audience with its sexual violence and then fails to find intelligence or dexterity in its handling of it."[1](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/blink-twice/)
Reviewers repeatedly compared the film to [Jordan Peele](https://www.edgepedia.org/jordan-peele)'s *Get Out* (2017), noting shared devices such as telltale nosebleeds, a revelatory box of Polaroids, and ambiguously grinning groundstaff; critics also placed it among recent "eat the rich" satires such as *Triangle of Sadness*, *The Menu*, *Glass Onion*, and *Saltburn*.[6](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/blink-twice-channing-tatum-unconvincing-evil-tech-ceo-this-convoluted-destination-thriller) • [11](https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/aug/22/blink-twice-review-zoe-kravitzs-stylish-yet-scattered-metoo-thriller) Common criticisms were an overstuffed script with thinly drawn supporting characters, a muddled message in the horror-heavy final act, and a final twist that some reviewers found implausible.[5](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/08/blink-twice-zoe-kravitz-movie-review/679546/) • [12](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-08-22/blink-twice-review-naomi-ackie-adria-arjona-channing-tatum-social-horror) • [13](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/movies/2024/08/21/blink-twice-movie-kravitz-tatum-review/) Praise centered on Kravitz's visual style, the performances of Ackie, Tatum, and [Adria Arjona](https://www.edgepedia.org/adria-arjona), and Tatum's against-type turn as a menacing tech CEO.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/blink-twice/) • [3](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/blink-twice-film-review-2024)
## Content warnings and real-world resonance
The film was released with a trigger warning, unusual for a theatrical release, describing it as "a psychological thriller about the abuse of power" containing "mature themes and depictions of violence, including sexual violence."[14](https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/aug/27/blink-twice-metoo-thrillers) The cast met with intimacy coordinators on days when they filmed graphic, sexually violent scenes.[15](https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a61917327/blink-twice-zoe-kravitz-naomi-ackie-interview/)
Commentators noted that the film's premise, a billionaire's private island where women are drugged and abused, echoed real events. [The Atlantic](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-atlantic)'s December 2024 retrospective argued the film anticipated a series of subsequent scandals, citing [Jeffrey Epstein](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeffrey-epstein)'s Caribbean island, Sean "Diddy" Combs's September 2024 arrest on racketeering and sex trafficking charges, and the French trial of Dominique Pelicot for enabling the drugging and sexual assault of his wife.[7](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/12/blink-twice-sexual-assault-allegations-2024/680902/) The same piece read the film's Polaroid motif and white party wardrobe as allusions to documented abuse and to Combs's famous "white parties."[7](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/12/blink-twice-sexual-assault-allegations-2024/680902/)
## References
1. [Blink Twice Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/blink-twice/)
2. [Blink Twice (2024), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt14858658/)
3. [Blink Twice movie review & film summary, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/blink-twice-film-review-2024)
4. [Blink Twice, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blink_twice)
5. [A Horror Movie About Befriending the Rich and Powerful, The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/08/blink-twice-zoe-kravitz-movie-review/679546/)
6. [Blink Twice review, Sight and Sound (BFI)](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/blink-twice-channing-tatum-unconvincing-evil-tech-ceo-this-convoluted-destination-thriller)
7. [The Movie That Mattered Most in 2024, The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/12/blink-twice-sexual-assault-allegations-2024/680902/)
8. [Zoë Kravitz and Naomi Ackie on #MeToo, 'Get Out,' Nail Art, and 'Blink Twice', Vogue](https://www.vogue.com/article/zoe-kravitz-naomi-ackie-blink-twice-interview)
9. [Zoë Kravitz: 'Directing is what I've always wanted to do', The List](https://lwlies.com/interviews/zoe-kravitz-directing-is-what-ive-always-wanted-to-do)
10. [Everything we know about Blink Twice, Tatler](https://www.tatler.com/article/everything-we-know-about-blink-twice-zoe-kravitz-sinister-directorial-debut)
11. [Blink Twice review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/aug/22/blink-twice-review-zoe-kravitzs-stylish-yet-scattered-metoo-thriller)
12. [Blink Twice review: Potent fantasy island with a dark side, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-08-22/blink-twice-review-naomi-ackie-adria-arjona-channing-tatum-social-horror)
13. [Blink Twice is a stylish but strained thriller, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/movies/2024/08/21/blink-twice-movie-kravitz-tatum-review/)
14. [Blink Twice and the problem with #MeToo thrillers, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/aug/27/blink-twice-metoo-thrillers)
15. [Zoe Kravitz and Naomi Ackie on Blink Twice, Women's Solidarity, Forgiveness, Elle](https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a61917327/blink-twice-zoe-kravitz-naomi-ackie-interview/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2023–2024 films*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license