Why So Blu?

Blink Twice (Blu-ray Review)

I was immediately intrigued about the premise of Blink Twice when the publicity for the film began.  The movie offered a psychological thriller, something that has been missing from cinemas a lot of the time recently.  Zoë Kravitz in her first film as director took an ambitious story and ran with it.  Read more about the Naomi Ackie and Channing Tatum led film and see if the film is worth a watch on Blu-ray!

Film:

When tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum) meets cocktail waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie) at his fundraising gala, sparks fly. He invites her to join him and his friends on a dream vacation on his private island. It’s paradise. Wild nights blend into sun-soaked days and everyone’s having a great time. No one wants this trip to end, but as strange things start to happen, Frida begins to question her reality. There is something wrong with this place. She’ll have to uncover the truth if she wants to make it out of this party alive.

Blink Twice begins with a blurry vision. Thumping buzzing surrounds you and you’re immediately struck with a sense of tension. Then snap! You happen upon Frida, lighting incense and scrolling social media while using the bathroom.  Frida is fixated on a video of billionaire Slater King, issuing an apology for “questionable” behavior.  Working at a waitress for King’s fundraiser, Frida has a feeling of this being fate.  She longs to meet him, having had a small encounter with him at the same fundraiser a year before.  Frida is drawn to Slater but doesn’t seem sure why.

After changing from her waitress uniform to a beautiful gown, Frida and her friend Jess (Alia Shawkat) crash the gala and Slater does indeed connect with Frida.  The two talk and flirt and then as Slater leaves, he invites the pair to his private island.  As we know in these types of films, things can’t always be so easy to swallow. The day begins easily enough.  Frida is stunned by her gorgeous room, the beautiful island and all the accommodations.  There are men and women who’ve all come to join the party. Slater’s assistant Stacy (Geena Davis) takes everyone’s phones and slinks away to prepare things for the guests.

After a decadent dinner provided by Cody (Simon Rex), a friend of Slaters and music curated by Tom (Haley Joel Osment), the drinks begin to flow, and the drugs begin to be done.  Dancing, hedonism and frolic all come forth and everyone is having a great time.  The other women on the trip delight in the free weed, free drinks and all the fun in the sun.  Everyone appears to be sucked into the debauchery and there is the illusion of safety. There’s Stacy, and Slater always keeps a bodyguard on scene.  Think about it – illusion of safety.

Things begin to get strange when Frida notices that the staff does not speak.  They smile and carry on. Except one person – The maid.  She says next to nothing, except for “Red Rabbit…” and that statement reveals a HUGE twist that I won’t divulge here.  The story takes a large turn once some of the secrets of the island are revealed and then things become dangerous, scary and bloody.

I can’t delve deeper into the story besides saying that things are not safe on Slater King’s island.  The further we get into the film the more details come out.  We see the illusion of safety dissolve and then it gets creepier and more tense.  The film toys with the audience giving us clues to try and solve the mystery involved in the story.  I cannot stress this enough, Blink Twice needs to be seen to be believed.

I have to say that I am extremely impressed with Zoë Kravitz’s first feature as a director.  She has proven herself to be more than just a beautiful actress.  She has given this film an undeniable style and pacing that I haven’t seen in a while. The editing, the cinematography and the actors assembled for the film are all first rate. The film made on a modest $20 million budget looks lush and expensive but focuses so much on the actors in frame that you’re nearly sucked into the whole thing yourself.  Music cues dominate the film and are so fabulous you are allured by the music. It is a party atmosphere after all.  Then there are the off-kilter moments.  All those thriller elements really do sing throughout the movie.  When you do finally catch on fully to what’s going on in the film you are genuinely shocked even if you know what may be going on.  The final-final twist is one that had me shouting at the screen though, and that ending is a sweet satisfying one that I won’t soon forget. See. This. Movie!

Video:

Encoding: MPEG-4/AVC

Resolution: HD (1080P)

Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Layers: BD-25

HDR: N/A

Clarity/Detail: Blink Twice is a film made for the 4K format. While we don’t get the option on this Blu-ray, we have a definite candidate for one of the best-looking films on the format this year.  Lushly filmic and stunningly clear, the film’s style lends itself to the sharp moments of focus with some good uses of focus pulling to make things tense and woozy.

Depth: Depth-wise, the film teeters between radical focus and blurry confusion. This is done with purpose to make things feel different than they may seem.  It all works so well, and the foreground and background information always comes through, even when things feel out of focus.

Black Levels: Black levels and shadow detail are deep and dark – Perfection.

Color Reproduction: The color palette for the film is all over the spectrum.  From the white resort wear that dominates the island partying, to the beautiful red of the buildings themselves, to the varying types of light that come through in nighttime sequences, the colors pop and look gorgeous and accurate throughout.

Flesh Tones: Flesh tones are totally gorgeous, with so much variance from the multi-cultural cast!

Noise/Artifacts: Clean

Audio:

Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English, French, Spanish, and Italian Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles:  English SDH, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch. Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish

Dynamics: Surprisingly, the 5.1 lossless mix for Blink Twice is full and immersive.  Modern mixes have lots of great dynamic range and this film is no exception. Music and dialogue both sound full and surround activity is busy!

Height: N/A

Low-Frequency Extension: Music and moments of violence give some nice bump in the subwoofer department.  The music here, mostly all classic soul sounds great and the modern more ambient score thumps too!

Surround Sound Presentation: Surrounds have island ambience, off-screen dialogue and of course the trademark surround sound moments of most thrillers.  The rear channels bring you right onto the island to be uncomfortable with our heroines.

Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue is always perfectly intelligible.

Extras:

No extras accompany the Blu-ray release of Blink Twice. A digital code comes with the Blu-ray disc.

Summary:

I had a small rant in one of my recent reviews, viewable HERE. I mused about how I wanted to see films that aren’t made for a ton of money that had something original or a the very least not something overtold to say. I believe that Blink Twice did an incredible job of telling a compelling story with a modern ideology and identity that felt so very relevant.  The acting from Naomi Ackie and her co-stars is excellent and there are so many twists the film takes at the end that I couldn’t quite figure out where it was going, which means I was on my toes trying to figure things out.  I hope to see more thrillers made in this vein. I do know the films won’t make a bundle in theaters, but damn it, these are the types of films I miss.  Despite there being no special features, I do think the Blu-ray for Blink Twice is excellent for the presentation of the film. One will hope for a 4K release from someone somewhere down the line, and I hope the film finds a wider audience as it arrives home on Blu-ray and on digital.

Order your copy of Blink Twice HERE