鈥淟ove means never having to say you鈥檙e sorry,鈥� somebody once in the movies. It made utterly no sense in 1970, but even less so now. In recent decades, the apology has become all the rage.
So at the beginning of Zo毛 Kravitz鈥檚 when her tech-mogul protagonist, Slater King, sits on a TV couch and says 鈥淚鈥檓 sorry鈥� for some unexplained transgression, well, it鈥檚 a familiar scene. Pick your offender, pick your year: Famous person issues ritual apology, gets off grid for a bit (in this case, a remote island with chickens) and returns, presumably forgiven. We鈥檝e seen it all before.
Not that it isn鈥檛 fun to watch here 鈥� especially because Channing Tatum is so delightfully, charmingly smarmy in the role. 鈥淏link Twice鈥� is a big swing for him as an actor and even a bigger one for Kravitz, his life partner, as director and co-writer of this stylish, ambitious, buzzy film that seems to aspire to be a gender-themed 鈥淕et Out," or a #MeToo-era thriller with echoes of 鈥淧romising Young Woman.鈥�
And Kravitz almost pulls it off. With the help of a terrific cast, she offers strikingly confident, brashly entertaining filmmaking, until everything seems to break down in a mess of porous storytelling. It鈥檚 not the sudden intrusion of gore that鈥檚 the issue 鈥� this is a horror film, duh. It鈥檚 the sudden departure of logic. Perhaps you won鈥檛 be able to turn away 鈥� but, unlike in Jordan Peele鈥檚 or Emerald Fennell鈥檚 above-mentioned films, you won鈥檛 necessarily be able to explain what you saw, either.
But it sure is crackling fun, until it isn鈥檛 鈥� which is a pretty apt way to describe the experience that Frida (Naomi Ackie, excellent) has. A cocktail waitress who designs nail art, Frida lives in a rundown apartment with roommate Jess (Alia Shawkat). When the two get a waitressing gig at a fundraiser, they cleverly plot to change into slinky dresses midway so they can mingle with wealthy guests.
Turns out, it鈥檚 a fundraiser for Slater's firm, and when Frida trips, it鈥檚 the billionaire himself who helps her up. He introduces her to his friends, and soon, Frida and Jess can鈥檛 believe their luck 鈥� they鈥檙e on Slater鈥檚 plane, en route to his very own Fantasy Island.
The water is sparkling. The champagne is, too. Frida and Jess鈥� closets are filled with resort wear in stylish white, matching those given the other female guests: the flaky and/or stoned Camilla and Heather, and hard-nosed, sharp-elbowed Sarah, who has eyes on Slater and thus daggers out for Frida. (Adria Arjona's Sarah is easily the most compelling performance of the movie.)
The food, prepared by Slater鈥檚 buddy Cody (Simon Rex), is impeccable. (His other pals are played by Christian Slater, Haley Joel Osment and Levon Hawke, and his therapist by Kyle MacLachlan.) Alcohol is plentiful, sheets are soft, and there鈥檚 drugs, too 鈥� to be used 鈥渨ith intention,鈥� according to Slater, whatever that means. Days are long, nights are longer, and soon nobody knows what day it is anyway.
But why is that, exactly? Well, all phones were confiscated upon arrival by Stacy, Slater鈥檚 ditzy assistant 鈥� Geena Davis, a hoot but somewhat underused (and one should never underuse Geena Davis). But something deeper seems at play. We鈥檙e trying to avoid spoilers, but as Jess tells Frida, 鈥淭here is something wrong with this place.鈥�
That would be easy enough to figure out just by looking at the oddly terrifying faces of the resort workers (shades of 鈥淕et Out鈥�) who are surely hiding something. Also: why does Frida have dirt under her fingernails? And what happened to a red stain on her dress? Weird stuff is happening.
But Frida, still, is angry that Jess is balking. They鈥檙e on a gorgeous island, and someone important is courting her. 鈥淔or the first time in my life I鈥檓 here and I鈥檓 not invisible, so please,鈥� she admonishes her friend.
And so the pretense continues 鈥� that pretense, familiar in the Instagram era, of always having a good time. 鈥淎re you having a good time?鈥� Slater asks more than once. 鈥淵es!鈥� says Frida, less convincingly as time goes on.
And when everything has gone to utter bloody, gory chaos, someone still suggests, eerily: 鈥淭here's a version of this where we鈥檙e all having a good time.鈥�
There's a deeper undercurrent here. Women, Kravitz has posited, are always expected to smile, play the game, pretend they're having a good time 鈥� and, she says, to 鈥渇orget鈥� the bad stuff. And so forgetting is a prominent element in her film, one we won't spoil.
In any case, there's indeed a version of Kravitz鈥檚 film in which we鈥檙e all having a great time 鈥� most of it, actually. She just needs to stick the landing. We鈥檒l all be eager to see what comes next.
鈥淏link Twice,鈥� an Amazon/MGM release, has been rated R by the Motion Picture Association 鈥渇or strong violent content, sexual assault, drug use and language throughout, and some sexual references.鈥� Running time: 103 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
Jocelyn Noveck, The Associated Press
