Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Film myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Mad, bad men who own islands are something of a scary-movie staple, which gives Zoë Kravitz’s glossy directorial debut an almost free pass to be cheerfully derivative of everything from Dr No to The Menu. Slater King (Channing Tatum) is definitely dangerous to know; a #MeToo miscreant, he is often in the news apologising for his former bad behaviour and sincere attempts to remake himself through therapy. Still, he owns an island. When Frida and Jess (Naomi Ackie and Alia Shawkat) meet him at a reception where they are waitressing and he asks them to his Caribbean hideaway, they jump at the chance. Why not? They have no way of knowing that Slater is an island kingpin with shades of Jeffrey Epstein.It doesn’t take too many rounds of champagne, spliffs, gourmet meals and larking around in the pool before Frida and her bestie Jess realise that so much determined frivolity is kind of weird. Things get weirder still when Jess disappears, after which nobody but Frida seems to remember she existed. As TV cops say, we have a situation here.In the absence of law enforcement or phone signals, Frida joins forces with Sarah (Hit Man’s Adria Arjona, excellent), the lithe veteran of a cheesy survival reality TV show who can usefully land a punch and climb a coconut palm. Together, they try to find out what else they are forgetting. It turns out that Slater’s therapy has a long way to go.HBO series The White Lotus was more scathing about the rich and their tropical playgrounds, and Jordan Peele’s central metaphor for racism in Get Out was more penetratingly sinister than anything Blink Twice has to say about misogyny. The tone here is light, the filler chat banal, the decor to die for. Kravitz and co-writer ET Feigenbaum are more interested in landing laughs than barbs about evil billionaires; as the film becomes bloodier, it also gets funnier. Geena Davis as permanently sozzled secretary Stacy is a hilarious standout in a strong ensemble, while Tatum, who has made a career out of playing muscled-up goofballs, is convincingly creepy. You’re no closer at the end to understanding what makes a villain like Slater tick, but you will have been efficiently entertained.★★★☆☆In cinemas from August 23
