When tech billionaire Slater King meets cocktail waitress Frida at his fundraising gala, he invites her to join him and his friends on a dream vacation on his private island. But despite the epic s...
Even if you won’t agree that Pussy Island made for a better title to this movie than “Blink Twice” (no, I am not kidding, look it up), there’s no denying Zoe Kravitz went out of her way to make an ambitious and important feature for casuals and survivors alike. Does it result in you having a good time, though?
I’d say just enough.
Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut and style actually reminds me a lot of Yoko Okumura’s directing from Unseen: guided by barely self-contained rage. Every scene is either bursting with energy or has enough momentum to know there’s a purpose behind what it displays….and still you can see a tight composure merged with a light grip in how she maneuvers from scene to scene. There is a caveat to how Zoe’s approach on that but I’ll get back to that later.
What this production design screams out, to me, is simply immaculate. The idyllic hacienda setting’s spaciousness highlights a certain desolate purgatory within the islands natural splendor, giving away the pretence of paradise that masks more sinister realities while the atmosphere is surprisingly, achingly tense…..in spades. The lens framing of the cinematography is intentionally poised and composes some of the better bits of this presentation: contrasting the lush Instagram filtered fake lenses of perfectionism, fame and excess against the dark stinky underbelly of such privileges with its harsh lighting. Cinematography in general, despite a lot of receptive close-ups, remains an enticing fixture bolstered by rapid editing that only just works. Its vibrant, bold color saturation between its locales and the upbeat party scenes' vivid hues stand in stark contrast to the darker, more sombre ones while reflecting the characters personas also.
Costume design is also on point, embracing or rejecting usual color psychology and even the most simple of clothing material becomes more sinister as the movie progresses, and it was the first time in a long while the minimalist soundtrack actually worked in the films favor, especially with its crackling sound design. Chandy Dancy’s musical score was just the cherry on top.
The cast is nothing short of stellar despite most of their characters not being well-defined with maybe two exceptions and the dialogue they’re given isn’t half-bad. Naomi Ackie and Adria Arjona are exceptionally talented as two survivors teetering on a tightrope with decent chemistry between them while Channing Tatum hits that sweet bout sour stride for a little while only to lose that edge over time.
So this story barely tries to hide how similarly it plays like another version of Get Out meets Saltburn, taking away how painfully cliche the first half of this movie is between the occasional bits of being invited to a remote location out of the blue and things gradually start going wrong. You can plainly see how SOME things are going to wiggle their way into the plot and the disclaimer in the beginning is a giveaway, too…..but once the plot really starts to get going, it has to live up to the task of being as provocative and sharp as it claims; with all that weight to shoulder, it unfortunately buckles quite a bit under the pressure. Nothing new is really said, no fresh perspectives come to the forefront and most of the events that transpire are held together by a litany of contrivances, luck and muted chaos.
It doesn’t take any real power away from its subject matter thankfully and you know there’ll be some catharsis when the movie ends but there’s only so many times you can see something play out before you catch on and it loses its appeal.
What makes what I just mentioned that much more frustrating is how lopsided it balances everything. Zoe’s directing and writing has enough composure to make a clean thorough dissection but there are instances where she loses her grip on that, straight-up goes for the nuclear option and heads to extremes; she has enough on her plate to get her point across but it often feels like she overdoes it to where it further highlights the films predictability. On top of that, it’s further made problematic by the uneven pacing dragging out the films first half and barely crushing in the rest with its second half to where I wouldn’t be surprised if some people mistook this sudden shift as a last minute decision. Had the pacing been better fine-tuned or if the runtime was bumped up to 2 hours to compensate for it, maybe those other factors could be forgiven.
With all that being said, you can definitely see snippets of potential bursting through the seams. I appreciate where its thematic messaging looks to draw attention to—toxic masculinity, trauma and consent, white privilege, cancel culture, power dynamics—and it hits all those ideas home with bullets and bludgeons to spare, not only blatantly attacking affluence and privilege as a sobering reminder of the hidden costs of unregulated authority but also the violence and violation of a survivor’s restructuring process, how some people would rather forget what hurt them rather than confront it. Subtlety would’ve greatly enhanced said messages but again, given how serious the issues it talks about are, it can kinda get away with being in your face about it.
Maintaining a fair amount of potency, the structure does make up for the lack of comedic humor and different avenues taken by simply remembering to have a little bit of fun while not going too exploitative. Yes, the gradual buildup is very fidgety, but once it changes gears, it plunges into some terrifying areas that are hard to forget about and for what it’s worth, at least it’s physically impossible for this to bore you.
A valiant endeavor that can’t quite escape the trappings of both its countless inspirations and unstable balancing act with an unoriginal narrative and thematic messaging, it nevertheless lives up to its promise in giving you a good time. Zoe Kravitz has potential to go far as a director/writer and I look forward to see what her next project could bring.
