Summary

• Pussy Island was the original title of Blink Twice, reflecting a deeper narrative of abuse and power dynamics on the private island.
• Zoë Kravitz wanted to reclaim the word but faced push back from studios and viewers, leading to the title change.
• The film delves into the dark truth behind Slater's private island, highlighting the character's sense of entitlement.

Before settling on Blink Twice, Zoë Kravitz had a different working title for her directorial debut. A psychological crime thriller, Blink Twice stars Naomi Ackie (I Wanna Dance With Somebody) as Frida, a down-on-her-luck cocktail waitress and aspiring nail artist, and Channing Tatum (Magic Mike) as Slater King, a billionaire tech mogul who recently retreated from the public eye after being called out on his inappropriate behavior. The film doesn't dwell on what he did, but it does take pains to show that Slater learned from his "cancelation" by seeking out therapy — and buying an island.

Coincidentally, Frida and her friend, Jess (Alia Shawkat), are scheduled to work Slater's big gala. Exhausted by life, Frida and Jess decide to sneak into the gala, ditching their cocktail waitress uniforms for dresses and heels. After a chance run-in with Slater, Frida gets to know him over the course of the evening, prompting the tech mogul to invite the women to his private island. Desperate for a vacation, Frida and Jess jump at the chance to the other of Blink Twice's cast of characters. However, it soon becomes clear that Slater's island is far from paradise.

Pussy Island Was The Original Title Of Blink Twice

Zoë Kravitz Wanted To Reclaim The Word With Her Directorial Debut

Back in 2017, Zoë Kravitz began writing the screenplay for what would become Blink Twice, though she titled her project Pussy Island. By 2021, Kravitz decided to make it her directorial debut, and finished penning the script alongside E.T. Feigenbaum (High Fidelity). By the following year, production on the film began, with Kravitz and the crew filming in Yucatán and Quintana Roo, Mexico. A staggering two years after that, just a few months before the film's release, Kravitz reassessed the movie's title. In January 2024, Kravtiz officially changed the film's title from Pussy Island to Blink Twice.

Other projects, like the series P-Valley, have strategically minced words...

There's no denying that Blink Twice is a far less provocative title. Other projects, like the series P-Valley, have strategically minced words, but, in the lead up to the film's release, Kravitz voiced her dedication to keeping the Pussy Island title — no vowels omitted. As the writer-director put it to Entertainment Weekly in 2022, the title is the seed of the film's story, and a statement. "It represents this time when it would be acceptable for a group of men to call a place that," Kravitz explained, "and the illusion that we're out of that time now."

Why Zoë Kravitz Changed Pussy Island's Title To Blink Twice

Studios, The MPA & Early Viewers Balked At The Word Choice

A few weeks before Blink Twice's release, Kravitz explained why, despite her insistence, the film's title changed. The filmmaker explained that other powers that be — studios, the Motion Picture Association (MPA), and early audiences — made it clear that "p---y" isn't a word that "our society" is ready to embrace. Kravitz explained in another interview with Entertainment Weekly that there were a lot of obstacles. While the MPA fretted about putting Pussy Island on a movie poster or billboard, big-name movie theater chains voiced concerns about printing the film's working title on tickets.

The realization that a majority of women were offended by the title...really pushed Kravitz to reconsider.

Although the original title was a means of "reclaiming" the word, and the first thing Kravitz wrote down when beginning the screenplay, the first-time director says she's happy with the new title of the movie. While the studio, MPA, and movie theater roadblocks were a bit frustrating, the realization that a majority of women were offended by the title — outright saying they wouldn't want to see a movie called Pussy Island — really pushed Kravitz to reconsider. "I care about people seeing the film," Kravitz said, "and I care about how it makes people feel."

Spoilers are ahead for Blink Twice's ending.

How Pussy Island's Title Connects To Blink Twice's Story

Zoë Kravitz's Original Title Hints At The Big Reveal In Blink Twice

The original title of Blink Twice pretty much reveals what's really going on with Slater's entourage on the private island. Although the mogul acts like he's reformed his misogynistic and abusive ways, the island actually serves as an outlet for Slater's darkest impulses. It's revealed in Blink Twice's ending that Slater and the other men in his entourage bring women to the island, give them tons of drugs, horrifically abuse and violate them, and then give them a perfume, made from the island's unique flowers, to make them forget the horrors that occurred the night before. Rinse and repeat.

In a series of shocking twists, Frida learns that the island's snakes harbor a venom that counteracts the perfume's effects, allowing her and the other women to the abuse and violence. It's also revealed that Frida attended Slater's "retreat" the year before, though she was made to forget the whole ordeal. That said, Kravitz's original title, Pussy Island, reiterates the idea that Slater and the other men feel entitled to the women they abduct, treating them as objects for their sexual and violent impulses. Of course, Blink Twice hammers home the message in its own way.

Blink Twice is now playing in theaters nationwide.

Source: Entertainment Weekly