Director Zoë Kravitz says 'Blink Twice' is about the 'absurdity' women face trying to exist in the world

Abuse of power is at the center of Zoë Kravitz’s new film and directorial debut, "Blink Twice," which examines the expectations for women to smile through trauma.

Zoë Kravitz is not offended by descriptions of her directorial debut “Blink Twice” as “a ‘Get Out’ for women.” It is a thriller, she said, and like “Get Out,” it’s a deep cultural analysis. The difference here is that it centers women. Power, she told NBC News, is her main target.

“I wanted to explore power, not necessarily empowerment, but power as an entity, and what that does to us, what people will do to get it, and what people do once they have it, the abuse of power,” she said. “It’s oppressive by nature. In order to be at the top, someone has to be at the bottom or below you, and it’s something that we all want, but to want something that is oppressive is so complicated.”

Naomi Ackie, left, and Alia Shawkat find their characters on an eerie private island in "Blink Twice."Carlos Somonte / Amazon / MGM via APThe film, starring Naomi Ackie and Kravitz’s fiancé, Channing Tatum, follows Ackie’s Frida, a young cocktail waitress struggling to make ends meet whose fortunes seemingly change when she and friend Jess, played by Alia Shawkat, swap their server clothes for cute dresses and go from pouring Champagne to drinking it.

Frida and Jess join the orbit of Tatum’s Slater King, a famous billionaire. They meet at a fundraiser he is hosting, but the party spins off to King’s private island, where things get eerie.   

The young women party under increasingly weird circumstances, drinking copious amounts of Champagne and consuming five-star meals. Because they are not used to being surrounded by opulence, it’s easy to understand why Frida especially brushes off the many unexplainable incidents.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/zoe-kravitz-director-blink-twice-film-society-women-rcna168009

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