Blink Twice triples the bite of the resort thriller

With a hodge-podge of ideas bouncing around as influences - White Lotus, The Glass Onion, and Get Out chief among them - Zoë Kravitz's directorial debut Blink Twice concocts a gruesome dish of girl power vengeance.

The story sees a pair of best friends (Arrested Development's Alia Shawkat and I Wanna Dance with Somebody's Naomi Ackie) receive an invite to the private island of a tech billionaire where it's not the vacation they were expecting.

Juggling heavy themes like the privileged 1% and women's oppression, Kravitz manages the satire gracefully, but leaves her characters drowning for purpose.

The rest of the guest list - Simon Rex, Adria Arjona, Christian Slater, Haley Joel Osment, Geena Davis, Kyle MacLachlan, and many more - barely serve a purpose but to pad the credits.

Channing Tatum simmers in spells as a cult-like billionaire who buys his own private island to hide from the public's scrutiny in a post-#MeToo world.

Ackie makes the most of her moment after her Whitney Houston biopic flopped at the box office. Her performance carries the film through its rough patches and should keep her busy in Hollywood for years to come.

There are also some parallels to Olivia Wilde's Don't Worry Darling - another star-studded production and much-talked-about thriller from an actress-turned-director.

But the results here are slightly more promising.

The plot bumbles along for the first two acts without revealing much more than was already present in the trailers.

But a closing act lets the blood flow for a satisfying and twisty conclusion.

Kravitz displays enough skill to ensure future jobs behind the camera if that's the path she wants.

It's a fleeting horror/thriller that goes down smooth on a hot summer day.

But it won't be remembered much by year's end.

6.5 out of 10