After years of starring in beloved series like Big Little Lies and High Fidelity and action films like Divergent and The Batman, Zoë Kravitz has stepped behind the lens to direct her feature debut. The psychological thriller first made headlines for its provocative name—Pussy Island, though that title has since been changed to Blink Twice (to be fair, “Pussy Island” makes for tough SEO).
Penned by Kravitz and High Fidelity writer E.T. Feigenbaum, the film stars Kravitz’s now-fiancé Channing Tatum (the project brought them together in the first place), and is due out this summer. Here’s everything to know about Blink Twice:
What’s the plot of Blink Twice?
Blink Twice follows tech billionaire Slater King (Tatum), who invites cocktail waitress Friday (Naomi Ackie) to his private island. As the “dream” vacation unfolds, strange things start to happen and Frida questions reality.
“I started writing it pre-#MeToo, pre-Harvey [Weinstein],” Kravitz previously told Elle. “Then the world started to have the conversation, so [the script] changed a lot. It became more about a power struggle and what that power struggle means. I rewrote it a million times. Now we’re like, ‘Holy shit. We’re doing this!’”
The script “was born out of a lot of anger and frustration around the lack of conversation about the treatment of women, specifically in industries that have a lot of money in them, like Hollywood, the tech world, all of that,” she said at the time. Even before Epstein’s infamous island became common knowledge, Kravitz had been hearing stories about powerful men inviting women to remote islands to partake in hedonistic vacations that didn’t always turn out well.
Why did the title change from Pussy Island?
Kravitz initially told the WSJ that she would not change the difficult-to-promote name, though she’s since budged, likely due to making the film more marketable to a wider audience.
She said that the original title “represent[ed] this time where it would be acceptable for a group of men to call a place that, and the illusion that we’re out of that time now,” adding, “People are evolving and changing but there is still a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths from past behavior. It’s a nod to that, but it’s also playful, and a really playful film in a lot of ways.”
Who is in the cast of Blink Twice?
In addition to Tatum and Ackie, the film’s cast includes Alia Shawkat, Simon Rex, Adria Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, Christian Slater, Kyle MacLachlan, and Geena Davis. “Blink Twice” is produced by writer/director Kravitz, Bruce Cohen, Tiffany Persons, and Garret Levitz.
When will Blink Twice be released?
Blink Twice will receive a theatrical release from Amazon MGM Studios on August 23, 2024.