A good start with ‘Blink Twice’

First-time writer/director Zoe Kravitz makes an impressive debut with “Blink Twice”—a thriller that’s eerily of the moment, but was actually prescient as it was written seven years ago. Starring her now-fiancé Channing Tatum and a revelatory Naomi Ackie, it’s a confident, stylish outing that bespeaks a filmmaker of promise.

Frida (Ackie) is a young woman struggling to make ends meet. She can’t pay her share of this month’s rent, but is lucky to have an understanding bestie in her roommate Jess (Alia Shawkat). They’re both food servers at a catering company, and one evening, after a fancy shindig with the charming-but-recently-canceled tech billionaire Slater King, they get invited to his private island for a few days of rest and relaxation along with King and his friends.

Like a lush pricey resort, all their whims are met, all the food is amazing (one of the guests is a chef!), and all their worries seem to melt away. But are they having too good a time? Time seems to be flowing weirdly, and inconsistencies are becoming noticeable.

Kravitz does some first-time director things: a ton of coverage, quick cuts, multiple inserts, stylish compositions. Ordinarily this might be overcompensation, but it fits with the material: the sudden rush of being whisked away from your humdrum existence to an experience one could only dream of, allowed only to those with extraordinary wealth.

It becomes clear that Kravitz has been thinking about and planning how to execute this story for a while. Even if it moves fast, you can tell every shot has been prepared and storyboarded.

What is expected, from not only the daughter of a rock star (dad Lenny) but the lead of a short-lived but music-heavy TV show (“High Fidelity”) is excellent music supervision, and here “Blink Twice” does not disappoint, with many choice funk cuts and party jams.

Tight script

It’s also a tight script. Cowritten with her “High Fidelity” cohort E.T. Feigenbaum, it may feel ripped from recent headlines but certain details elevate it from tabloid-y cash-grabs. The lived-in friendship between Jess and Frida is a nice touch, Shawkat and Ackie’s chemistry obvious. The details and foreshadowing are also impressive, once “Blink Twice”’s darker elements reveal themselves.

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Once the turn happens, it’s where Kravitz’s chops really come into play. The choice to do a genre piece as one’s first outing means there are certain expectations or rules in play, and Kravitz proves an able student, able to set up satisfying payoffs, surprises and subversions with equal measure. It’s clear she’s been looking at Jordan Peele and Quentin Tarantino, among others. There can be a tonal whiplash when truly unnerving things are taking place onscreen but then someone cracks a joke, and that feels like the influence of the exploitation film genre (as well as the exoticization of the island’s indigenous help).

Kravitz also gets great performances from her coterie of actors. A career-best Adria Arjona, as a frequent reality-show contestant, and the best acting from Tatum since “Foxcatcher,” are supported by turns from Simon Rex, Christian Slater, Haley Joel Osment, Geena Davis, Kyle McLachlan and Levon Hawke.

Once the last act kicks into gear, “Blink Twice” goes all out as a genre thriller, but with its careful attention to detail and subtle table-setting, the climax is satisfying and shows that Kravitz is one to watch not just in front of the camera but behind it as well.