Blink Twice (2024), the directorial debut of Zoë Kravitz, takes us to a disturbing and satisfying ending after introducing us to the vacation of our dreams. The psychological thriller takes inspiration from a lot of classic movies but also presents a pretty fresh take on the powers that abusers are often given in the modern world despite being called out for their deeds. Kravitz, who has co-written the film with E.T. Feigenbaum, presents darkly comical social commentary in the guise of a vacation gone wrong thriller. It features a creepy good turn from Channing Tatum and a screenplay that keeps you on the edge of your seat till the very end.
In the following article, we will take a detailed look at all the twists and turns that you will see in Blink Twice, including a discussion of its wild ending and what it means. Please be aware that this will be full of spoilers so proceed with caution.
Blink Twice (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
The film begins with our introduction to Frida (Naomi Ackie) and Jess (Alia Shawkat), two roommates who also work as cocktail waitresses. Director Zoë Kravitz is very subtle in establishing that there’s something truly wrong with Frida. We can see that she is suffering from some kind of trauma that has now become so deep seated that she doesn’t even recognise it anymore.
Anyway, Frida and Jess find themselves serving drinks at an extravagant party thrown by Slater King (Channing Tatum), a handsome, smooth-talking tech billionaire who, after being canceled by mainstream media, has been lying low until this event. Slater King feels like a real charmer. After his interviews, where Slater issues a vague public apology for some unspecified misdeeds from his past, promising to “do better” going forward, the swipe-up generation that is extremely susceptible has accepted him back into civilization. We see that Frida is one of those people. She observes Slater closely and becomes captivated by his charm.
By the end of the night, she manages to get herself—and a somewhat reluctant Jess—invited to Slater’s private island for a luxurious getaway. This is the island where he has been lying low and claims to have a transformative impact on him. Frida is soon drawn deeper into Slater’s world, unfazed by his controversial reputation. She does have a look at the interview he gave but is more focused and distracted by her current obsession: her intricate, animal-themed fingernail art—her “anailmals,” as she affectionately calls them.
Who else is there on the Island with Slater?
Other than Frida, Jess, and Slater, the Island getaway also includes The Ladies – Sarah (Adria Arjona), Camila (Liz Caribel), Heather (Trew Mullen) and The Gents – Vic (Christian Slater), Cody (Simon Rex), Tom (Haley Joel Osment), Lucas (Levon Hawke) and slater’s sister Stacy (Geena Davis), who is also his personal assistant.
The rules of the Island imply that everyone who checks in will submit their cell phones before the vacation of a lifetime starts. So, Frida, Jess, and the other guests surrender their cell phones and begin what feels like uninterrupted days that unfold like a hazy dream: champagne flows freely, gourmet food, prepared specially by Cody, is served at every meal, and everyone just kind of hangs around the pool either just enjoying the place, taking psychedelic drugs or smoking a big fat blunt. Oh, and it’s important to note that in her separate quarter, Frida finds a bottle of essence and a white dress that she is obliged to wear like all the other women on the Island.
Why do the workers keep bagging the snakes on the Island?
The only apparent danger on the island is the venomous snakes lurking in the grass. The workers on the Island who work for Slater keep bagging them, seemingly to avoid any kind of inconvenience for the guests.
However, soon, Frida begins to notice strange things around her. One of the first signs is the dirt that mysteriously keeps appearing under her fingernails and stains on her dress vanishing without explanation. She also notices that the time on the Island keeps getting blurryer as she starts getting more and more paranoid, doubting that the perfection of her time here may be short-lived.
The tropical paradise slowly transforms into a disorienting nightmare when Jess is bitten by one of the snakes. Despite Jess’s growing panic, Slater and his group assure her that she’ll be fine and leave her to rest while the party rages on.
The next day, Jess’s anxiety escalates, and she warns Frida that something is terribly wrong, either with what she is feeling or with the Island altogether. But Frida, who is right now swayed by this lifestyle and by the attention she has been getting from Slater, doesn’t bother to look into what her friend is feeling. She dismisses Jess by saying that for the first time in her life, she does not feel invisible and that she wouldn’t let anyone ruin it for her.
One of the other weird things that Frida notices as she explores the island’s luxurious huts is the repeated encounter with a mysterious housekeeper whose sole task seems to be killing the snakes. Each time they cross paths, the housekeeper shouts, “Red rabbit!” and at one point offers Frida a sip of a strange green liquid, which turns out to be snake venom, possibly extracted from all the snakes that the workers have been catching all along.
What has Slater been doing to the women?
Suddenly, Frida comes to a horrifying realization—Jess is missing. No one on the island seems to remember her ever being there. Soon, repressed memories start flooding back.
Stripped of their memories by the drugs, they wake up each morning as if nothing has happened, continuing to vacation. The snake venom, however, breaks through the drug’s effects, triggering flashes of the unspeakable horrors that have been occurring. In one haunting memory, Frida recalls that Jess, after being bitten by the snake, began to uncover the truth and was killed in front of the others to silence her.
Frida also realizes that behind all the extravaganza, Slater and his associates have been drugging the women to erase their memories of repeated sexual assaults. Each night, the women are raped, only to wake up the next morning with no recollection of the horrors they’ve endured.
How did Frida understand what had been going on?
The snake venom acts as an antidote to the memory-erasing drugs that Slater has been giving them, allowing Frida to remember the truth — that they are trapped in a cycle of abuse. Frida’s discovery of these suppressed memories leads her to share the truth with Sarah, a former survival show contestant, and together, they hatch a plan to break the other women out of their mindless state as well.
By mixing the snake venom with tequila shots, they attempt to jolt everyone back into reality. The memories resurface, filling the women with rage as they finally understand the extent of their abuse. However, Stacy, who has been facilitating the assaults till now, also regains the memories of doing so after taking the venom. Kravitz uses her character to portray those facilitators who abide by men in power just because they have to.
As Frida and Sarah await their moment to get back at them, Frida uncovers Polaroid photos documenting the horrific experiences of all the other women who have been brought to the island before them. The sheer number of victims further makes Frida angrier. The anger boils to its brim when Frida finally realizes that this is not the first time she has been a victim of Slater’s abuse. She finds a photo of herself from a previous visit, which allows her to make sense of many other things. The deeply seated memories resurface as she realizes why the house help used to call her ‘Red Rabbit.’ It is revealed that during her last visit, Frida had a red rabbit painted on her nail.
When the memories finally return to the rest of the women, they launch a brutal attack on their abusers, turning the beautiful Island into a battlefield, where a showdown leads to Frida and Sarah burning Slater’s estate to the ground. The other women take up various things at their disposal to kill off the abusers who have been brutalizing their bodies till now.
Blink Twice (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
However, before Frida can exact her revenge, Slater corners her, and it feels like he will win again. But suddenly, and this comes off as a shock, he starts to forget what is going on or what he is about to do.
Another twist zooms in on the bottle of perfume, a recurring element in the movie. It is revealed that Frida has administered the same substance Slater has been using on them by replacing the content of his vape. This tells us that Frida now has the upper hand again.
Why doesn’t Frida kill Slater?
However, the ending of Blink Twice reveals another twist that director Kravitz has under her sleeve. The final sequence takes place at an event that is eerily similar to the one that we saw during the film’s first act. Slater is alive and well instead of dead and in the limbo of hell meant for sinners. However, the power equation has shifted a bit.
The film shows us that Firda is in charge now. Using the substance and blackmail, she has now become the mogul that he once was. Her revenge is now complete because earlier in the film, we hear her saying, “Success is the best revenge.” So, by becoming successful and rich from serving cocktails to abusers, she has come a long way. While that might not sit right with a lot of viewers, this is what the film leaves us with.
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