Zoë Kravitz’s feature directorial debut, Blink Twice, opens in three weeks. It’s under embargo, so even though I’ve already seen it I can’t talk about it yet, but I will say that I newly appreciate the task the marketing team faces with this film, to split the difference between enticing audiences into the theater, and not giving the game away. A new trailer dropped yesterday, and it is leaning heavily into horror movie vibes, and is strongly reminiscent of Get Out. That correlation is…not misplaced.
I liked the first trailer but this new one does a GREAT job introducing the concept and Channing Tatum as Slater King, a tech bro billionaire with a private island. Also, the deployment of Haley Joel Osment continues to be perfect, but we also get a clear look at Levon Hawke, son of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke. There’s a lot of Uma in his face, but I don’t think he’s quite as immediately identifiable as his sister, Maya, though I did spend a lot of the movie trying to place where I’d seen him before, and the answer is: Uma Thurman. There’s also a lot of Naomi Ackie, Alia Shawkat, and Adria Arjona running around the island, where Things Are Not What They Seem.
There is also a first look featurette for the film, and CTates is so cute, complimenting Zoë Kravitz and clearly proud of the work they’ve done together. In the Squawk chat yesterday, someone mentioned Anne Helen Peterson writing on her Substack about Glen Powell and male movie stars who “like” women, citing stars like Powell, Ryan Gosling, Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Mescal, and CTates as stars who “like” women. This is not in the context of them as individuals and whether or not they’re misogynists, it's about how they as actors perform the act of liking women on screen. These are stars she identifies as communicating delight, appreciation, and enjoyment of the female characters they’re responding to in films.
I will split the hair even finer and say it’s about LOOKING. These are all actors who are good Lookers, as in, they look at women on screen and you FEEL it. The defining Looker of my generation is Heath Ledger. Patrick Verona looked at Kat Stratford, and we never recovered. This is also why Paul Mescal took off so hot and so fast—he’s a classic Looker. He Looks, we feel. His gaze is in itself evocative of romance, desire, but more, liking.
A lot of men don’t like women. The older I get, the more certain I am of this. Conversely, the dude stars I enjoy are almost all Lookers. I used to not care overmuch for Channing Tatum as an actor. But I’m older and wiser and I better appreciate what he brings to the table now, which is in no small part the tangibly appreciative quality of his gaze. And Zoë Kravitz? She knows her man is a Looker. She utilizes his Looking like a weapon.
