Blink Twice is a psychological thriller from Zoë Kravitz, who made her directorial debut with the movie. Throwing in a star-studded ensemble led by Channing Tatum and Naomi Ackie and a twisty, mysterious plot, this was one of the more intriguing new movies of the summer. But if you've seen it and still have some questions about what exactly happened in the movie and what it all means, we're here to offer our insight into the Blink Twice ending (SPOILER ALERT for anyone who hasn’t watched Blink Twice yet).
Starting off at the beginning, we meet Frida (Ackie) a struggling cocktail waitress who has dreams of a better life and a plan to achieve that. Working a gala hosted by tech billionaire Slater King (Tatum), Frida and her best friend Jess (Alia Shawkat) sneak into the party. Frida trips and is helped up by Slater, who is clearly very quickly smitten with her, bringing her and Jess into his inner circle of friends and co-workers — Vic (Christian Slater), Cody (Simon Rex), Sarah (Adria Arjona), Tom (Haley Joel Osment), Camilla (Liz Caribel), Lucas (Levon Hawke), Heather (Trew Mullen) and Stacy (Geena Davis) — so much so that he invites the two of them to go to his private island.
Once on the island, Stacy collects everyone's phones as Slater prefers everyone's stay is free from distractions. Everyone quickly has a great time as they lounge by the pool, eat delicious food and partake in some recreational drugs (with intention, as Slater is sure to emphasize). While Frida does notice some odd things — like the maid who keeps saying "red rabbit" to her and other staff's devotion to kill the indigenous snakes on the island — she is enjoying getting closer to Slater, sharing with him her passion for painting animal-themed nails and both discussing how they've dealt past trauma.
However, things start to turn when Jess is bitten by one of the island's snakes. She soon is less enthusiastic about everything going on and wants to go home, though Frida assures her everything is OK. However, the next day Frida can't find Jess, and, even stranger, no one else even remembers Jess being there. Frida is determined to find out what happened to her friend, which opens up a whole can of worms.
Why don't the women remember anything?
While looking for Jess, Frida stumbles onto a hidden cottage. Inside she finds a bunch of gift bags that have the perfume made from a flower that only grows on the island she and the other women have been wearing. She also finds the maid, who offers her a swig of a drink. Frida takes it and is surprised by how strong it is. Asking what is in it, she sees a dead snake and realizes the drink is infused with venom.
Shortly after, Frida gets a nosebleed, which starts to unlock her memories, particularly of a panicked Jess, including one where she stole a knife and had Frida hide it behind the mirror of her bathroom.
Sarah then arrives. She still doesn't remember Jess, but she found a lighter with Jess' name on it and is confused about a bruise on her arm she doesn't remember getting, not buying the guy's answer that she fell out of a tree seeing as she starred in a survivalist TV show. Frida tells her about how the venom has started to jog her memory and she gets Sarah to drink it.
They both then realize that every night the guys have been raping them, but because of the perfume they've been forgetting what happens. With the guys away on a fishing trip for the day, Frida and Sarah decide to get Camilla and Heather to also drink the venom (passing them off as tequila shots); even Stacy does a few shots.
Frida and Sarah know the other girls are now ticking time bombs before they start to remember what happens. However, with the guys returning from their trip, the situation becomes very tense.
What happens to Frida and Slater?
At dinner, Frida and Sarah do their best to appear normal, but noticing something is up, Slater pulls Frida aside. As everyone else starts the party portion of the night, Camilla and Heather finally remember what is going on and immediately start to attack the guys; killing Tom, bashing Vic’s face in with a platter and stabbing Cody. Lucas is incredibly confused as to what's going on, as it's revealed he also has been using the perfume and can't remember. Slater is able to get inside for safety.
When Frida goes back to her room for something, she is confronted by Stacy, whose memory has also come back. However she's angry because she was knowingly using the perfume to forget her past traumas. She attacks Frida, but Frida is able to get the knife that Jess hid and kill Stacy. Stacy also had one of the gift bags with her, which falls over and spills out a bunch of pictures, one of which reveals a picture of Frida with red rabbits on her nails, revealing that she has been on the island before. The flower's memory loss power is so strong that she had no recollection of her past trip or that she knew Slater before she saw him again at the gala.
Rejoined with Sarah, Frida heads up to Slater's house to end this once and for all. Inside, Slater barricades himself, the injured Vic and Lucas, who Slater reveals didn't actually participate in assaulting the girls, but he didn't do anything to stop it either. When there's a knock at the door, Lucas decides to do something and goes to answer it despite Slater's protests. But when he opens it Sarah shoots him in the head. Frida then tries to get in, but Slater overpowers her and ties her up.
He tells her that people want to forget their trauma and mistakes, that that's the only thing that is real, not forgiveness. He goes through all the different ways he can appear to say he's sorry to Frida and then asks if she could forgive him? As he's talking though, Frida discreetly grabs a piece of broken glass and starts to cut her bonds loose.
Sarah then finds a way to burst in, which Slater has to deal with. While some candles are knocked over setting the room on fire, Slater subdues her. He takes a puff of his vape pen and then goes to kill Sarah with a knife. However, with the knife at her throat he stops and pulls back. He is at a complete loss for what is going on. Turns out, while Slater was dealing with Sarah, Frida slipped some of the perfume into his vape pen so now he is suffering its memory loss effects. Frida knocks Slater out, but then drags him out with Sarah to safety.
A year later, another King Tech gala is being held. But instead of Slater being the man of the hour, Frida has become the CEO of the company, married to Slater and in complete control as she continues to fill his vape pen with the flower perfume.
What does the Blink Twice ending mean?
One of the big ideas in Blink Twice is whether it's better to forget your trauma or to face them head on; specifically in this case physical and sexual assault by men on women. The movie very much believes we shouldn't forget our trauma, as its characters enact a revenge fantasy that sees the women not only turn hurt and even kill their assailants, but in the case of Frida turn the tables entirely and gain all the power in her relationship with Slater. Slater believed that forgetting was a gift, well now he forgets everything about his life and is completely at the mercy of Frida, who has faced her trauma, defeated it and is now everything she could ever want to be.
Blink Twice is now playing exclusively in movie theaters.
