Little White Lies #104

If you believe the trade publications, then 2024 is a desert when it comes to big ticket movie releases. To that we say: poppycock. There’s quality there for the taking if you’re willing to take a moment and seek it out. Case in point: Zoë Kravitz’s Blink Twice, a sun-bleached party movie set in a tropical villa with booze and drugs on tap in which cordialities between the gender-split attendees break down in the most spectacular way possible. It’s a showcase for Londoner Naomi Ackie, who plays Frida in the film, a food service worker who manages to place herself in the sightlines of the dashing tech mogul Slater King (Channing Tatum). Initially, Frida is a ball of nervous excitement who can’t believe her luck, as she and her bestie Jess (Alia Shawkat) are sipping cocktails on a private jet, headed to a mysterious yet luxurious destination.

It’s hard to place Blink Twice into a specific genre, as it touches on elements of so many. At one minute it’s an antic comedy about female friendship; then it’s a romantic drama as Slater seems to be trying to woo Frida; but then there are quite a few elements suggestive of occult horror, especially the ominous yellow snakes that constantly slither around the estate. Yet it ends up being all of those things and more, coalescing into something that’s raw, political and provocative.

So of course, we’re thrilled to be presenting this to you as the cover film of issue 104 of Little White Lies, one in which we chart the tonal balancing act involved in bringing the production together, as well as offering a wider celebration of women in the film industry. We speak to Kravitz, Ackie, co-star Adria Arjona, alongside producer Bruce Cohen who collectively tell us the story of how Blink Twice came together.