Smiling through the pain

Zoë Kravitz channels women's experiences of sexual violence and her own rage in thriller 'Blink Twice'

- EMILIE HANSKAMP

Two words formed the seed of Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut: “P---y Island.”

It’s a phrase that likely either evokes curiosity or triggers offence. That’s precisely why Kravitz wanted it as the title of her film. Every wince suggested a ripe opportunity to reclaim the word.

But, as the story often goes, the Motion Picture Association of America thought differently. As did movie theatres, marketing teams and many prospective female viewers. They may have been ready for a psychological thriller tackling gender disparity and sexual violence, but put the P-word on a movie ticket? Plaster it on a billboard? Inconceivable. Kravitz concluded that society was simply “not ready to embrace” the title and opted instead for “Blink Twice.”

It’s a fitting reflection of the stutter-step progress explored in her film, which opens with a tech billionaire’s #MeToo mea culpa.

Slater King, played by a characteristically charming but refreshingly ominous Channing Tatum, offers a few spit-shined apologies before crediting his rehabilitation to the sanctuary of his new private island. The rest of the film takes place on that slice of paradise where, surrounded by an entourage of other rich and powerful men, women are flown in as eager guests before quickly becoming victims.

That this storyline could just as easily be the non-fictional focus of a contemporary documentary speaks to a key motivator behind the project: anger.

“There was definitely a decent amount of rage involved,” Kravitz told the Star of her directorial debut, which opens Friday.

The filmmaker wanted to find a way to channel that rage and mirror the problematic behaviour she had witnessed throughout her career.

“I was so perplexed by the absurdity of what women are asked to do,” she said. “I really wanted to try and find a way to highlight that absurdity. I was trying to find a way to make people look at it from a different point of view.”