Blink Twice, Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut, has viewers searching high and low for movies that share some of the psychological thriller’s DNA. Co-written by Kravitz and E.T. Feigenbaum (High Fidelity),Blink Twiceis a fairly singular movie-going experience, though some of its plot points are familiar to the genres it pulls from. In the film, cocktail waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie) has a seemingly chance encounter with billionaire tech mogul Slater King (Channing Tatum), who, after being “canceled,” became an advocate for therapy. In what Frida accurately dubs a “real casual” move, Slater also bought a private island.
WhileBlink Twiceboasts plenty of hintsthat telegraph where its twists and turns are headed, the film is still a harrowing journey through Frida’s unearthed trauma. At the same time,Blink Twicefeatures some surprisingly funny moments. It’s a disorienting experience that makes the terror at its core all the more unsettling.Blink Twice’s divisive endingalso plays with viewers' expectations for the genre, but, from its alluring start to its bloody finale,Kravitz’s movie does have some thematic and narrative overlap with other stellar thrillers, mysteries, and revenge talesthat make for great post-Blink Twiceviewing.
Cuckoo
Cast
On a trip to the German Alps with her father and stepmother, Gretchen (Hunter Schafer from HBO’s “Euphoria”) discovers that the resort town where they’re staying hides sinister secrets, as she’s plagued by strange noises and frightening visions of a woman pursuing her. Soon, Gretchen finds herself pulled into a conspiracy involving bizarre experiments by the resort’s owner that echo back generations.
One of many great horror movies of 2024,Cuckoois a wild and intense experience that also builds the tension with a protagonist cut off from the outside world. Hunter Schafer stars inCuckooas Gretchen, a teen who moves to the Bavarian Alps to live with her father as he takes a new job in an isolated resort town. However, with it being the off-season, Gretchen and her family live in the eerily abandoned village with her father’s new boss (Dan Stevens) keeping a close eye on them.
The shift fromBlink Twice’s island setting to this mountain retreat still has the same effect that it feels as though the movies' heroes have nowhere to escape to. Gretchen and Frida are two compelling leads as they dig into the truth of what is happening to them, even if that truth is very different for each woman.
Revenge
Revenge (2018) is a French action-thriller film that follows the story of a young woman who is left for dead in the desert by her wealthy boyfriend and his friends, ultimately seeking vengeance against those who wronged her. The film explores themes of survival, resilience, and justice through intense and gritty storytelling.
While there have been many movies that make sexual violence a threat against female characters,Blink TwiceandRevengeare two that address the realities of such abuses but refuse to make the characters simply victims.Revengeis a French thriller that follows American Jen (Matilda Lutz), who goes on a trip to a secluded mansion with her married boyfriend. When his rowdy friends show up for a party, she becomes targeted and has to fight for survival.
The movie begins by making the audience question Jen’s actions, but itis hard not to root for her when she finds herself in a brutal situation. She goes through so much pain and suffering but keeps fighting. LikeBlink Twice,there is a true thrill toRevenge’s wild endingas this everyday person finds a warrior inside of her and makes her abusers pay.
The Invisible Man
Inspired by H.G. Well’s novel of the same name, The Invisible Man is a modern retelling of the sci-fi horror classic. After narrowly escaping her abusive and powerful tech mogul boyfriend (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss) is relieved to hear of his death. However, she soon becomes convinced that he’s watching her, and little by little, she comes to believe that he’s found a way to not only cheat death but the laws of reality, too.
Whilethe Dark Universe failedin its attempt to bring the classic Universal Monsters to modern moviegoers, Blumhouse proved it could be done by turning one of these classic characters into the villain of an elevated horror movie.The Invisible Manstars Elizabeth Moss as a woman who escapes an abusive relationship with her ex-boyfriend, only to learn that he has died. However, she soon becomes convinced that he has simply found a way to make himself invisible, and is tearing apart her life.
The movie doesn’t have much ofBlink Twice’s dark humor, instead creating an experience with unbearable tension throughout. The audience has the feeling that there is a threat lurking in every empty frame of the movie. However, it is also a look at the trauma of abusive relationships with Moss delivering a powerful horror movie performance.
Directed By Emerald Fennell
Promising Young Woman
Starring Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman follows Cassie, a college dropout intent on getting revenge for the unprosecuted rape of her deceased best friend, Nina. As she becomes deeper involved in tormenting those she sees as complicit in Nina’s rape and subsequent suicide, Cassie begins to travel down a more dangerous path than she realizes. Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Jennifer Coolidge, Laverne Cox, and Connie Britton also star.
Afearless revenge thriller,Promising Young Womanmarks Emerald Fennell’s (Killing Eve) directorial debut. The film stars Carey Mulligan as Cassie Thomas, a 30-something med school dropout who goes to bars and pretends to be drunk. If anyone tries to take advantage of her while she’s seemingly intoxicated, Cassie makes them pay. Haunted by a traumatic past,Cassie navigates the tightrope between forgiveness and vengeance throughoutPromising Young Woman.
Given Frida’s choices at the end ofBlink Twice, and all the trauma she weathers, she and Cassie feel like kindred spirits. Both movies are thrillers with a darkly comedic tone. However, the jokes also do not interfere with the sobering commentary on abuse and the casualness with which it can be carried out. While the actions of both Frida and Cassie were met with some controversy from audiences, they fight back against abusers in a way that is also satisfying.
Directed By Jordan Peele
Get Out
Jordan Peele made his directorial Horror debut with Get Out, a terrifying Psychological Horror film starring Daniel Kaluuya. In the 2017 release, Chris Washington heads to Upstate New York to meet the family of his girlfriend, Rose. What follows is a horrifying ordeal for the anxious photographer.
Written and directed by Jordan Peele, the Oscar-winningGet Outis yet another directorial debut. The film centers on Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya), a Black photographer who travels from New York City to his white girlfriend Rose’s (Allison Williams) country family home. While there, Rose’s mother,Missy (Catherine Keener), tricks Chris into a hypnotherapy session, sending him to the so-called Sunken Place— a dark void where no one can hear him scream. That’s just the start of Chris' worries as he navigates Rose’s hostile family and neighbors, an increasingly unsettling atmosphere, and a dark scheme rife with social commentary.
LikeBlink Twice, Get Outpresents what should be a fun getaway and gradually reveals the sinister elements lurking underneath. It turns into a nightmare from which there is seemingly no escape.Get Outtackles societal racism with the same cleverness asBlink Twice’s commentary on sexual violence while also maintaining a sense of humor amid the surreal thriller story.
Directed By Olivia Wilde
Don’t Worry Darling
In Don’t Worry Darling, a young married couple are lucky enough to live in Victory, an experimental town created to house the workers and families of the top-secret Victory Project. Life is perfect, with every resident’s needs met by the company. All they ask in return is an unquestioning commitment to the Victory cause. But soon, cracks in their idyllic life appear, exposing flashes of something much more sinister lurking beneath the attractive façade.
Olivia Wilde’sDon’t Worry Darlingis not her directorial debut, but it made a splash when it premiered. Florence Pugh stars as Alice Chambers, a woman who lives in the idyllic Palm Springs-like town of Victory with her seemingly perfect husband, Jack (Harry Styles). The 1950s company town is helmed by Frank (Chris Pine), a man with cult leader-like charisma and a shady agenda. While the men of Victory all drive off to work,the women spend their days lounging, cooking, and waiting for their husbands to return — until Alice starts to suspect that Victory isn’t what it seems.
The psychological thriller is another gripping story of a woman coming to grips with the abusive reality of her existence that he is right in front of her. There are a lot of similar elements to both stories in terms of the psychological manipulation of victims so that they perceive things the way their abusers want them to be perceived.Don’t Worry Darling’s revealis perhaps more outlandish and sci-fi-esque, but it hits similar notes asBlink Twice.
Directed By Mimi Cave
Fresh
Fresh is a Hulu original film starring Daisy Edgar-Jones as a single woman named Noa who is searching for love on dating apps. But after meeting a man named Steve (Sebastian Stan), she agrees to take a romantic weekend trip with him. The only catch is that she discovers he is a cannibal that consumes and sells human flesh.
Mimi Cave’s directorial debut, the horror-meets-thrillerFreshstars Daisy Edgar-Jones as Noa, a young woman who meets the incredibly charismatic Steve (Sebastian Stan) at a grocery store. Exhausted and frustrated by the perils of app-dating in her life, Noa decides to give the run-in a chance and gives Steve her number. Almost immediately, Noa is smitten by the alluring Steve and agrees to go on a spur-of-the-moment romantic getaway. In true thriller fashion, of course,Steve is hiding a dark agenda that makes Noa regret her impulsive decision.
The casting of the lead actors in both movies is an effective wayFreshandBlink Twiceare linked. Sebastian Stan and Channing Tatum are both big-name stars known for their likable and heroic personas on-screen. Their respective roles in these two movies both use and subvert those expectations brilliantly, presenting themselves initially as the perfect guys only to reveal their horrific villainy lurking underneath.
Directed By Ari Aster
Midsommar
Ari Aster’s Midsommar follows a group of American college students who travel to a friend’s isolated rural hometown in Sweden to experience their renowned midsummer festival. What starts out as idyllic quickly becomes a disconcertingly violent pagan ritual, with the friends engaged in a ruthless competition that will test more than just their friendship. Florence Pugh stars alongside Jack Reynor, Will Poulter, and William Jackson Harper.
Written and directed by Ari Aster, A24’s cult favorite folk horror filmMidsommaris another psychological thriller that puts Florence Pugh at its traumatic center. InMidsommar, Pugh plays Dani, a young woman who’s still reeling from a tragedy: her sister kills her entire family via carbon monoxide poisoning. Dani’s boyfriend, Christian (Jack Reynor), grows increasingly distant but doesn’t want to break up with a grieving Dani. Ultimately,Christian invites Dani to attend a nine-day midsummer festival at his friend Pelle’s ancestral home. Even through the haze of drugs, Dani realizes something is terribly wrong with the isolated commune.
Midsommar’s folk horror setting is quite different from the island paradise ofBlink Twice, but both movies are able to turn their beautiful locations into nightmares. While it is the cult Dani and her friends find themselves embedded in offers the real danger, the toxic relationship between her and Christian is a big part of the narrative.Blink Twicemay be a more disturbing look at a wronged woman, but Dani’s actions at theend ofMidsommaroutdo Frida’s.
Directed By Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett
Ready or Not
In Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s 2019 black comedy Ready Or Not, newlywed bride Grace Le Domas participates in a violent game of hide-and-seek with her fiancé’s family, who attempt to kill her during her wedding night as part of a long-standing ritual. The film stars Samara Weaving as Grace, Mark O’Brien as Grace’s husband Alex, Adam Brody as Alex’s brother Daniel, Andie MacDowell as their mother Becky, and Henry Czerny, Melanie Scrofano, Kristian Bruun, and Elyse Levesque as other members of the murderous family.
Ready or Notstars Samara Weaving as Grace, a woman who’s engaged to the incredibly wealthy Alex Le Domas (Mark O’Brien). On their wedding day, Grace meets the in-laws and learns about a deal one of the family’s ancestors made with an entity named Le Bail.In exchange for their vast fortune, the brood must observe a strange traditionat midnight on each family member’s wedding day. The new addition to the family, in this case Grace, must draw a game card from Le Bail’s puzzle box. When Grace draws hide-and-seek, she gets much more than she bargained for.
Ready or Notis a much more comedic horror movie compared to the more disturbing elements ofBlink Twice. However, it is in the final act when both movies become even more similar. Seeing Grace and Frida turn the tables on the villains and become true warriors is a crowd-pleasing way to end such intense rides.
Directed By Rian Johnson
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery follows Detective Benoit Blanc’s continuing detective work in Greece. When tech billionaire Miles Bron invites his friends to his private island, Benoit Blanc must step in to solve the case when one of them is killed.
The sequel to Rian Johnson’s hitmurder mysteryKnives Out,Glass Onionsees master detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) accepting a brand-new case that revolves around the mysterious tech billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton). Along with Miles' closest friends,Blanc and other high-profile figures that Miles dubs “Disruptors,” including Janelle Monáe’s Andi Brand, are invited to Miles' private islandto play a murder mystery game at his mansion, the titular glass onion. Although Blanc solves Miles' murder mystery immediately, an actual murder leads to the film’s many twists and turns.
It is hard not to immediately see the similarities betweenGlass OnionandBlink Twicejust based on the premise. The tech guru bringing along his sycophant friends on an exclusive island vacation is mirrored in both movies. It is true that from there, the movies become tonally quite different, asGlass Onionis much more light-hearted. However, they ultimately lead to the epic conclusion of a hero, proving these seemingly untouchable rich people can be undone.
