Blink Twice's Ending Interpretation

For Zoë Kravitz's directorial debut, she definitely picked a very daring movie to name a visionary name for herself. Blink Twice (originally named Pussy Island) is when two waitresses are invited to the island home of a tech mogul. It all looks like fun and games until one of the girls goes missing. I'm sure many people who've watched the movie have their own interpretation of the twisted ending. I've got one of my own. Fair warning if you haven't seen the movie yet, there will be major spoilers below as well as a trigger warning for those who've been sexually abused…

Blink Twice's Ending

When Frida's friend goes missing on the island, Frieda drinks the snake venom which brings up a bunch of painful memories she's forgotten. She remembers that she and the rest of the girls were tied up and raped by the men of the island, including Slater King. Even worse is that Frida went through the same thing with Slater King years before, but had no memory. It's because of a flower inside a perfume he tricked the women into absorbing that makes you forget. Snake venom is the antidote.

As Slater confronts Frida in his house, he admits to her that he and his sister were sexually abused by a man (presumably their father) when they were kids. He doesn't remember the incident because of his trauma, but he said his sister led a miserable life because of it. This gave Slater the realization that if he could make people happy by forgetting the abuse he put on them, he could get away with doing damage to more and more people for power.

After Slater is defeated and his house is burned down, Frida could have let Slater burn to death. Instead, she chose to save him for her own personal use. With access to Slater's vape that contains the powerful flower, it's revealed that Frieda married Slater and is the new CEO of his company. She's been controlling him through the use of his forgetfulness vape to forget recent events.

My Interpretation of Blink Twice's Ending

The ending of Blink Twice has Frida in full power while Slater is her little puppet. While this ending can easily be construed as female empowerment, I happen to think it's the opposite. As Zoë Kravitz said to Business Insider, “This is not a story about empowerment. This is a story about power.” The first-time director would happen to be right.

I don't see Frida now being able to control Slater as a win. She could have stopped the cycle of abuse by either letting Slater die or keeping him alive to turn him over to the authorities. Instead, she's mirroring his actions all so that she's not the “invisible” one anymore.

Just like Slater repeated the actions of his abuser, Frida is doing the same repeating Slater's actions. Based on Verywell Mind, the cycle of abuse continues for a number of reasons. It could come off as familiar to the victim as well as their way of dealing with the healing process and anger they're harboring. Blink Twice's ending may come off as disappointing that Frida couldn't be the bigger person in this situation. At the same time, the ending could come off as relatable to many victims of sexual abuse to continue what should end.

Your thoughts?