Blink Twice (2024)-- My take on the horror movie with spoilers!

 

Plot: When Frida and Jess are invited by tech billionaire Slater King to vacation at his island, they are unaware of the dangers that are about to befall them.

Quick Movie Review

Blink twice if you are in trouble.

But could you if you don't even remember why you feel like you were in trouble?

Blink Twice delivers a predictable theme, but it is gripping enough to arrest your attention.

The movie even gives a trigger warning, reminding people that the themes used are for entertainment purposes only. And the movie is only fiction.

So, we only get a brief glimpse of the scene that shows violence, which is a relief. However, since the scene is too brief, it doesn't create much of an impact. It's a blink-and-miss scene that doesn't register what is actually happening and can be confusing. Because we don't exactly see the assault, the revenge scene doesn't land. It doesn't invoke the rush of satisfaction a viewer should feel when the criminal is finally paying for their crimes.

The movie also touches on a profound ideology: What if we could forget our trauma rather than spend years trying to get over it? Won't it be convenient if the traumatic memory is wiped off from our minds? Then, we can truly move forward with our lives without pain and guilt.

This ideology remains debatable until the very end of the movie.

 

  BLINK TWICE Movie Plot

Frida is watching an online video of Billionaire Slater King  apologising for the events of last year. We don't find out what he's actually apologising for, only that he doesn't expect people to forgive and forget anymore. Frida is clearly taken by his apologising video that she is watching while she is on the toilet and smoking.

Her friend Jess comes over and asks for her lighter back.

The girls are waitresses and are getting ready to go to work at a gala hosted by Slater's company.

The girls are told to smile by their boss and not be too chatty. Apparently, Frida was too chatty with someone the last time and is advised to stay invisible this time. Frida reluctantly agrees and does exactly that.

After some time, Frida and Jess go to the bathroom and wear dresses so that they can merge with the crowd on the other side of the hall. They are learning how to walk in their heels and pretending to be the elite when Frida decides to go one step ahead and approach someone she sees. Possibly Slater. But as she walks forward, her heel breaks, and she trips on another waiter.

There's glass everywhere, but Frida barely notices it as Slater approaches her. He helps her up and breaks her other heel so that she is even.

Frida can barely say two words to him. Jess is happy for her friend. Slater talks to her, and the guard there, who was previously rude to her, now offers her a bandage.

Slater introduces her to his friends, one of them being Rich, Slater's therapist. She makes a joke about blinking twice if he is in trouble. They all laugh at that.

Later, Jess joins Frida after Slater's assistant Stacy informs him that it is time to leave. But Slater comes back and invites both Frida and Jess to his island.

The girls, of course, say yes. They get to fly in a private plane with several of Slater's friends. Slater is so comfortable with Frida that he sleeps on her shoulder.

At the island, the guests are each given room, perfume, and white clothing as well. A maid at the resort keeps calling Frida, a red rabbit.

Frida and Jess are having the time of their lives, drinking champagne with raspberries by the pool, making new friends, and relaxing in their rooms. Frida is jealous of Sarah getting close to Slater and accidentally chokes on her raspberry. Slater goes to take care of her, which nettles Sarah.

At dinner, Frida is still being her clumsy self and accidentally spills wine on her dress. The other guests are Lucas, Vic, Cody, Tom, Camilla, Heather, and Sarah.

Vic has a missing pinky finger that he is sore about. Cody is obnoxious, and his girlfriend Sarah can barely stand him. Frida is asked what she does apart from spilling wine, and she implies she's trying to figure things out.

Slater suggests they all take some drops. Frida readily takes them, and after that, they all have a chaotic evening.

In the morning, Frida wakes up next to Jess and finds that the wine stain from her dress has disappeared. She finds that odd because obviously someone changed her.

The same events occur for the next few days. Frida wakes up in the morning with little memory of last night and dirt under her fingernails.

Frida meets Rich again, who doesn't remember meeting her. He is given a red gift bag before he leaves.

One night, while they are all running about and giggling under the influence of the drugs, Jess comes running over, saying she was bitten by a snake. Slater finds the snake and brutally kills it. Frida is taken aback by the violence but takes care of Jess.

Jess isn't too happy and wants to leave, suggesting something strange is happening. Frida begs her to stay because she finally feels seen. Jess agrees, but when she goes to her room, she experiences a nosebleed.

The next morning, right before she wakes up, Frida sees flashes of weird events before Jess tells her to hide this knife somewhere.

She goes out and sees a red bag on the ground. She goes to the small shack to return it and sees hundreds of bags. Before she can take a peek, the maid comes up behind her and calls her red rabbit again. Frida is friendly with her and even agrees to drink from the bottle she was. The bottle contains something green and tastes awful. When Frida asks what it is, the maid points to the basket of dead snakes.

Frida is disgusted that she ingested snake venom. She heads to the pool and, along with girls, has a relaxing time putting blue face masks and getting pedicures.

Camilla asks for a light, and Frida remembers her friend Jess isn't here. She asks Heather and Camilla where Jess is. They have no idea who she's talking about.

Frida freaks out and rushes to her room. On the way, she asks about Jess, but Stacy has no idea who she is and informs her that the room next to her is a store room. Frida checks it out, and yes, it is a strore room. She begins to wonder if she is losing her mind. She goes to her bathroom, removes her blue face mask, and then bumps her hand against the mirror. A knife falls out, the same one that Jess had given her to her in what Frida thought was a dream.

There's a knock on the door, and it's Sarah. She has a lighter with Jess' name on it. Frida tells her that everything feels weird here. Sarah sympathises with her but reasons with her that there is no way that she forgot an entire person and Frida must be mistaken.

Frida remembers drinking the snake Venom. She encourages Sarah to have a shot. Since Sarah is sick of her life in the reality show she was in and is down in the dumps, she doesn't care what she drinks. She takes it, hates it, and they decide to give it to the other girls, too.

The girls also come to a realisation that none of them actually know each other. Frida had mistakenly assumed that the people on the island were friends of Slaters and us embarrassed that she trusted a stranger.

While the men are off fishing, the girls decide to have a shots party. Heather and Camilla take the Venom too, but it doesn't have an effect on them just yet. Stacy partakes in the shots party as well.

Sarah and Frida plan to get the phones that they had given up to Stacy before entering the island. Frida creeps up to Slater's room and uses a display piece to break into the cabinet.

Meanwhile, the guys return, and Sarah almost knocks Cody up, but lies about having quick reflexes. Slater wants to know where Frida is, and Sarah yells the code word, but Frida is too far away.

Frida finds that the phones don't work. She finds some Polaroids and stuff a few into her dress.

Sarah manages to scream the code word, and Frida quickly hides as Slater enters the room. He hates the red sofa and moves it. Stacy doesn't care what he does with it.

Frida manages to creep away and join Sarah. She tells her new friend that she finally remembered what happened to Jess. Frida experienced a flash of memory in which she saw all the girls tied up by the men. Slater announces that since Jess was bitten by a snake, she remembers everything. He snaps her neck.

Both Jess and Frida are horrified and rattled. Heather and Camilla could remember at any point.

BLINK TWICE Ending Explained

At dinner, Frida cowers at Slater's touch, and he remarks that she smells different. He also suspects Sarah, who diverts the conversation about how she has difficulty making friends with women but is glad to find new friends. Camilla announces that she will literally do anything for her girlfriends.

Frida suddenly remembers that Slater and the other men have been assaulting her and the other women. Presumably, Sarah also remembers, which is why they exchange nervous looks. Frida also remembers Rich assaulting her violently, considering Slater remarks that the worse it is, the easier it is to erase.

To divert a suspicious Slater, Sarah begins dancing with Frida, and the others join in, too.

Unfortunately, Camilla gets a nosebleed and remembers what happened to her. She stabs Tom without hesitation. Heather gets a nosebleed as well and goes after Vic.

Lucas freaks out because he doesn't know why everyone is stabbing everyone.

Heather manages to catch up to Vic and starts bashing his head with a tile until the bodyguard, Stan, shoots her in the head.

Camilla is captured and brought to Slater's room, where he steps on her neck and kills her.

Frida runs into the woods and is chased by Stan who manages to get behind her. He presses a gun behind her neck, but Sarah has managed to come in time and kills him. She takes his gun.

Frida goes inside and finds Stacy, who is pissed that she remembers everything. She wanted to forget everything on purpose and attack Frida, who stabbed her.

Sarah finds Cody and kills him.

Lucas wants to know what's going on, and aren't they the good guys?

Vic is on the sofa, having survived barely.

Slater tells Lucas that he saw what he and his friends did to the girls but didn't do anything.

Frida pretends to act scared so that Slater will open the door. Lucas thinks he can explain himself to the girls, but Sarah, thinking that it is Slater, shoots him in the head. Frida is unsuccessful at stabbing Slater and is dragged in.

There is some running around, and Frida falls down, which causes her stuffed up Polaroids in her dress to fall out. Just how she managed to hide them throughout the evening is a wonder considering all the running around she did before.

She finds one that explains why she is called red rabbit by the maid. Apparently, she had come to the island last year. The photo has her with long hair and her nail art with a red rabbit on it.

She remembers how Slater dropped her on a rock that resulted in a scar near her eyes. She also remembers biting Vic's finger off.

Sarah and Frida are captured. Slater goes on about how he went to therapy for his trauma but didn't receive any help. He decided that forgetting was better for him. And so when he found a flower that could do that, he used it to wipe away his memories and others who wanted to forget the horrible things they did. He reasons that saying sorry means nothing and forgetting trauma is way better.

He keeps using his vape pen before going to Sarah and getting ready to slit her neck. He pauses as Frida keeps screaming.

Slater gets disoriented and wonders what is going on. Frida shows him the perfume under her dress. She has drugged him with his own medicine.

Slater can't remember why everyone is dead and turns and stumbles, causing the candles to fall and a fire to spread. He eventually gets knocked over.

Frida and Sarah make it out. Frida is seeking to drag someone out.

The maid is happy to see the mansion in flames.

Sarah asks Frida for a light for a broken cigarette. Frida says she knew she had forgotten something. Both of them laugh. Sarah warns Frida that she hopes she knows what she is doing.

Turns out, Sarah had dragged Slater out.

Time passes, and at the next gala event, Rich goes to meet Slater, who doesn't remember him. Frida turns around. She is not only seated next to Slater but is also his wife. She remembers Rich, who is nervous upon seeing her.

The announcer invites the new CEO to come up on stage. It's Frida.

There is no better revenge than success. Slater is now the supportive husband who doesn't remember the awful things he did.

The movie ends.

My Take On The Movie

While the ending is satisfying, just how did Frida become CEO? Even if Slater let her become one, what of her qualifications? Just how did a waitress manage to run a company?

And how is it that her dress was able to hide Polaroids and perfume bottles?

Also, did Frida want success so badly that she is okay with living with someone who assaulted her?

Blink Twice has a thought-provoking narrative that will make you question your beliefs or, if anything, offer a different perspective.

Scare Scale: 3/5