Blink Twice: The Gecko, The Rabbit & The Venomous Snakes

A Dissection of Zoë Kravitz’ psychological thriller directorial debut.

When tech billionaire Slater King invites struggling waitress Frida to join him and his special group of friends for a dream vacation on his private island, strange occurrences wake the women up to the true danger that lies within the paradise. The film is directed and produced by Zoë Kravitz and co-written with herself and E.T. Feigenbaum, and inspired by the sexual assault events by Harvey Weinstein. It stars Naomi Ackie, Channing Tatum, Alia Shawkat and more.

Let’s dive into the first image:

The gecko.

In film, we begin with the color yellow to signify the everyday world, before we burst into the adventure of the new world, signified by the color blue. However, green is a combination of the two (yellow + blue), which lets us know the two worlds are merged. We later learn why this is: Frida’s suppressed memory (new world / blue) flashes while she’s at home (everyday world / yellow).

Let’s meet Frida.

As she scrolls her nail business’ social media profile, the image of her green gecko nail design triggers her suppressed memory - the opening shot. We can also see the makings of the color green - the yellow and blue now split behind Frida.

Zoë actually hit a three-peat in this very quick, slick shot: the yellow smiley face symbolizing how it’s women’s everyday world to be forced to smile as they go extremely unprotected in men’s normalized danger - symbolized as a flame to represent women’s simmering rage. This singular shot tells the entire story.

To further display Frida’s inner conflict, she faces a mirror. Mirrors in film symbolize a character’s split in mind or identity. Frida is split between her conscious (yellow) and subconscious (blue). She wears a red tee as she also reads a red book: “Success is the best revenge”. Her inner flame will drive the story arc to her victory.

Now, let’s meet her nemesis: Slater.

We meet Slater through Frida’s phone as he apologizes for an assault he committed in the past as he’s currently welcomed back into the public eye with open arms. When characters are on screens (TV / phone) or in drawings / photos / paintings, they are projecting a false image.

Slater is a liar.

Slater is backlit with the color white to show innocence, while wearing black to mean a void - his secret identity is at play. As Slater sits on a red chair, we can estimate that his secret identity will endanger others.

And he has. And he will. Frida.

Frida is now currently endangered by Slater on his island and with an anecdote to his daily drugs, she remembers that she’s actually been here last year. Like many victims, Frida has suppressed the traumatic memory.

It was strange that she was often referred to a “Red Rabbit” during her current visit, and it was with reason; last year, she wore a red rabbit on her nails. When she returned, she painted a green gecko - the image from the opening - the suppressed memory of what she saw when she was attacked.

It’s why she has a scar on her head. It’s why she now has short hair. It’s why her flame burns.

Though Slater’s frame nearly matches Frida’s, with his fire being larger as he’s the cause of Frida’s trauma, and thus, rage - Slater’s frame goes completely opposite from when we met him on Frida’s phone - his truth now revealed in person. The color black consumes his background as he’s a bad person, and his good guy persona was worn via a white shirt is stained with blood - marking him as the monster.

Like Frida’s lighter, Slater, when endangering Frida, forces her to smile.

The color green merges the two worlds in the end as well; last year’s green gecko represented the lie of Frida’s subconsciousness - she couldn’t remember. However, the current green snake venom acts as an antedate to make them remember. Green merges the subconscious (blue) to their consciousness (yellow).

The women turn from forgetful docile geckos in the daytime to remembered venomous snakes in the nighttime. And suddenly, it’s time for revenge.

No longer a suppressed, burning flame. The women’s rage untethered. Dangerous.

But after revenge, as Frida’s book declares, comes success.

The red removed from Slater as he’s no longer the danger. The symbolization of red turning from rage into power, as Frida makes Slater’s success her own, in her revenge.

If you like this article, share on your social media and subscribe for new posts every Tuesday & Thursday!

x

Latasha