Blink Twice Ending Explained: No One Man Should Have All That Power

This article contains massive spoilers for "Blink Twice." 

"Blink Twice" is a confident, exciting piece of filmmaking that turns a talented actor into a multi-hyphenate triple threat. Zoe Kravitz, who you know from films like "The Batman" and shows like "Big Little Lies," co-wrote the screenplay for "Blink Twice" alongside E.T. Feigenbaum and makes her feature directorial debut with this spectacular and subversive movie, a gorgeous, colorful, primal scream of a thriller that uses its heightened, stylish trappings to terrific effect. /Film's BJ Colangelo called the movie "the biggest surprise of 2024," and considering we didn't know Kravitz had this in her as a filmmaker, I'm inclined to agree.

It's the type of film that starts going in one direction, builds to a reveal, takes a big turn, and ramps things up exponentially as it races toward the finish line. Here's what you need to know about the movie, and what its ending means.

Frida (Naomie Ackie) desperately needs a vacation, and her dream comes true when, at her job as a catering waiter, she meets quasi-canceled billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum), who has recently returned to public life after some time away due to some unspecified bad behavior that required a public apology. But that doesn't seem to bother Frida too much, and the two strike up a flirtatious back-and-forth. By the end of the night, Slater has invited Frida and her roommate Jess (Alia Shawkat) to come to his private island with his entourage, including a polaroid-snapping fiend named Vic (Christian Slater), a failed screenwriter (Haley Joel Osment), a tech bro (Levon Hawke), a foodie (Simon Rex), and three hot women: Sarah (Adria Arjona), Heather (Trew Mullen), and Camilla (Liz Caribel). The island is a tropical paradise where Champagne is always flowing, drugs are always available, free clothes and perfume are in their bungalows, and the days blend into each other. It seems like Frida has hit the jackpot: She's vibing with a hot rich guy, and her best friend is right by her side. Or is she?

During an unplanned, isolated encounter with one of the maids who work on Slater's island compound, Frida takes a sip from the woman's flask, only to realize she's just ingested snake venom. That liquid opens her mind to the horrible truth: The perfume she's been using is synthesized from a plant that only grows on this specific island, and it has properties that result in partial amnesia, blocking out the trauma of what's really been happening on Slater's island: Frida, Jess, and the rest of the women are being raped every night by Slater and his skeezy friends. At the end of each night, their minds are wiped and they wake up to continue their seemingly never-ending party. As Frida gains her memories back, she suddenly remembers seeing Slater murder Jess; a snake bit her, and the snakebite caused the venom to flow through her veins, serving as an antidote to the perfume and causing her to not forget her assaults like the others. Meanwhile, Sarah begins to realize something is off about this place, and after Frida gives her some of the venom, the two form a plan.

Frida and Sarah dose Heather and Camilla with the venom (watered down in tequila shots), and after a few tense moments at the dinner table, the women are all effectively "awake" and decide to strike back against their abusers in violent ways. In a climactic confrontation, many of the men are killed or maimed, Heather and Camilla are murdered, and Frida discovers this hellish experience has lasted a lot longer than she thought: the maid's "red rabbit" phrase was a reference to a design she painted on her nails, and one of Vic's polaroids reveal that Frida has already been to this island before. She manages to dose Slater with the perfume by pouring some into his vape pen, causing him to start forgetting things. Lighting the building on fire, Frida and Sarah barely make their way out with an injured Vic and, seemingly, Slater left inside to burn to death. But it's soon revealed that Frida has actually dragged Slater out to safety.

While Slater's apparent death as the flames engulfed his property feinted at a traditional rape/revenge story ending, Kravitz takes things a step further. The movie's final moments reveal that Frida has married Slater and is using his own technology to oppress him — a true "taste of his own medicine" scenario. Crucially, though, Frida has also taken over Slater's company. For Kravitz, "Blink Twice" is about one thing above all else: power. Slater had robbed Frida of the power to make her own decisions by drugging her and putting her through his sick game, offering her body up to his rich pals along the way as if she were a new golf club he let them borrow for a few swings. But by the end, Frida and Sarah slashed their way through that layer of oppression, and Frida has installed herself in a position of authority in a business environment where women have been historically excluded. As the cherry on top of the sundae, Frida has compiled enough evidence to have Rich, Slater's wealthy therapist pal (and one of her assailants), arrested.

The last few minutes of the film is a cascade of catharsis, an elaborate retaliation that doesn't simply wipe out these bad men who have abused her by giving them a quick death, but instead subjects them to levels of oppression they couldn't fathom would ever happen to rich, white men like them. She suffered unimaginable losses, but Frida has finally found a way to get what she always wanted: a seat at the table.

We spoke about "Blink Twice" on today's episode of the /Film Daily podcast, which you can listen to below:

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