Breaking Down The Movie ‘Blink Twice’

Written by Michael Lee

*All Media used in this article is courtesy of MGM Studios

Photo Credit: MGM Studios

Cast & Crew Interviews: ‘Blink Twice’

‘Blink Twice’ Plot Synopsis

An animal nail artist and cocktail waitress named Frida is hired for an exclusive event along with her best friend and roommate, Jess. This prestigious event hosts both wealthy and elite guests, including tech mogul billionaire Slater King, who has just recently stepped down from being CEO amid a PR misfire concerning his past behavior. To surprise Jess, Frida has snuck in two cocktail dresses so the two can lampoon as party guests. Frida eventually ends up falling in the midst of the party, and Slater King steps in, helping her to her feet.

‘Blink Twice’ (2024) Official Trailer | Video Credit: MGM Studios

Slater and Frida strike up a fast friendship, and he quickly invites both her and Jess to join him and his friends on his private island. The two excitedly agree, as they have never attended an event of such magnitude. When Frida and Jess eventually arrive on the island, Stacy, Slater’s personal assistant, confiscates everyone's phones. Along with Slater and Stacy, Frida and Jess meet the rest of Slater’s posse: Including DJ Tom, Slater’s private chef, Cody, photographer Vic, and recently graduated Lucas, along with three other women: Heather, Sarah, and Camilla.

‘Blink Twice’ Movie Featurette: “On Location” | Video Credit: MGM Studios

On Slater’s island, Frida and Jess live it up luxuriously. They are treated to extravagant bedrooms, perfumes, gifts, and exquisite food and drink. Vic, the photographer, also offers the two girls party drugs of the hallucinogenic flavor.

Naomi Ackie stars as Frida in BLINK TWICE ● Photo Credit: MGM Studios

Frida quickly begins to pine after Slater, but she has an enemy in Sarah, who is also vying for Slater’s affection. Jess, amidst the battle over Slater, begins to complain about lapses in her memory, while Frida wonders why all of the staff have the same snake tattoo. Frida asks Slater, who informs her that the workers are collecting wild snakes who are overpopulating the island. Later, Frida and Jess encounter one of the maids, who calls Frida ‘Red Rabbit’, to Frida’s confusion.

‘Blink Twice’ Film Clip: “Slater Introduces His Crew” | Video Credit: MGM Studios

In the midst of Frida and Jess’s confusion, Slater’s therapist, Rich, arrives at the island and Frida immediately recognizes him from the gala where they’d met Slater, where he’d told her to blink twice if she was in danger, as a joke. Slater greets Rich and hands him a red bag, passing it off as a gift.

Channing Tatum stars as Slater King in BLINK TWICE ● Photo Credit: Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios © 2024 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.

A wild night of partying takes place, with plenty of hallucinogenic drugs and alcohol to pass around. As the party rages, Jess is bitten by one of the wild snakes. This scares her and she takes this concern to Frida, but Frida brushes her off, unworried. Jess wants to leave the island, but Frida laughs.

‘Blink Twice’ Movie Featurette: “A Shocking Debut” | Video Credit: MGM Studios

Channing Tatum stars as Slater King and Naomi Ackie as Frida in director Zoë Kravitz’s BLINK TWICE, an Amazon MGM Studios film. Photo credit: Carlos Somonte © 2024 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Jess turns up missing the day after the party, but no one seems to notice. Frida, at breakfast, recognizes the smell of perfume on Lucas, the graduate, as the same perfume the girls had been given upon arriving to the island.

‘Blink Twice’ Film Clip: “Wake Up” | Video Credit: MGM Studios

Later, the men are away on a fishing excision and Frida is left behind. She searches the house, happening upon a room where there are tons of those bright red gift bags, the very same that all of the guests have received. The same maid who had called Frida ‘Red Rabbit’ a few nights earlier happens upon Frida and tricks her into drinking snake venom, which triggers her into remembering strange, disconnected events. Frida eventually notices that Jess is missing, though no one else seems to have noticed.

(l-r.) Levon Hawke stars as Lucas, Simon Rex as Cody, Liz Caribel as Camilla, Channing Tatum as Slater King, Haley Joel Osment as Tom, Trew Mullen as Heather, Naomi Ackie as Frida, Adria Arjona as Sarah and Alia Shawkat as Jess in director Zoë Kravitz’s BLINK TWICE, an Amazon MGM Studios film.

Upon further searching, Frida notices that Jess’s room has seemingly been emptied and is now just a storage room, with absolutely none of Jess’s personal items or belongings. Though, when Frida stumbles across the girls, she notices that they have been passing around Jess’s lighter. This frightens Frida, who does more research. She finds that an indigenous flower is capable of memory loss, quickly realizing the food and perfume have been laced with the flower. Concerned, Frida takes this information to Sarah and gets her to drink the snake venom, which she’s now realized is the antidote to the flower’s poison.

‘Blink Twice’ Movie Featurette: “First Look” | Video Credit: MGM Studios

Finally, the men return from the fishing excision as both Sarah and Frida grow increasingly more paranoid that something is amiss, worrying about what they don’t remember. Sarah and Frida get Stacy, Camilla, and Heather to drink the snake venom too.

Naomi Ackie stars as Frida and Adria Arjona as Sarah in director Zoë Kravitz’s BLINK TWICE, an Amazon MGM Studios film.

Realizing they have to escape, Frida sneaks around to find their phones, but they have been wiped. In hiding, Frida’s memories find their way back to her, which reveals that the men have been assaulting the women every night and then using the flower to wipe their memories. She remembers that the flower’s effects just didn’t work on Jess and they killed her. She then discovers photos of other women with red gift bags, realizing Slater has been doing this for years.

‘Blink Twice’ Film Clip: “Something Horrible Is About To Happen” | Video Credit: MGM Studios

Sarah and Frida devise a distraction by dancing. Suddenly, Camilla and Heather’s memories return to them. Camila kills Tom and Heater manages to injure Vic before she is shot by Stan, Slater’s security guard. The group of remaining men find refuge in Slater’s villa. It is here where Lucas becomes the subject of Slater's disapproval, for his reluctance to participate in the assault on the women. Slater points out that unlike the other men, Lucas opted to remain passively complicit, refraining from any active involvement in the abuse.

Liz Caribel stars as Camilla and Trew Mullen as Heather in director Zoë Kravitz’s BLINK TWICE, an Amazon MGM Studios film.

Later, Slater kills Camilla and Stacy, Slater’s assistant, rattacks Frida, revealing herself to be complicit in the men’s actions. Frida, shocked at her complicitness, stabs her, which seemingly kills her. Sarah and Frida manage to murder Lucas, Stan, and Cody fairly quickly, but Slater apprehends Frida and traps her in the villa.

‘Blink Twice’ Film Clip: “A Little Different Now” | Video Credit: MGM Studios

It is here that we learn that Frida has been to the island before, invited a year prior and experienced the very same events. Frida is shocked by this, but learns that she’d had bitten off Vic’s pinky and injuring herself when she’d fallen headfirst on a rock right before her memories were wiped by the flower. This is why the maid recognized Frida, because of her fingernails, which had red rabbits painted upon them the last year at the island.

Naomi Ackie stars as Frida and Channing Tatum as Slater King in director Zoë Kravitz’s BLINK TWICE, an Amazon MGM Studios film. Photo credit: Carlos Somonte © 2024 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Slater leaves to apprehend Sarah. While he’s gone, Frida then laces his vape pen with the flower. Later, as Slater is getting ready to kill Sarah, the effects of the flower begin to take hold, and he is shocked by the corpses surrounding him. He panics and falls unconscious as his villa is engulfed in flames. Sarah and Frida manage to escape and the two of them leave Vic to die, but Frida decides to save Slater.

‘Blink Twice’ Film Clip: “That’s How You Win” | Video Credit: MGM Studios

Later, at the very same party shown at the beginning of the film, Rich notices Slater, who is a shell of his former self, seemingly disoriented and confused. It is revealed that Frida has married Slater, assumed his former position of CEO, and has used the flower to keep Slater compliant to her commands. As the event's guests congratulate Frida on her success as CEO, Rich is apprehended as the screen fades to black.