Aahana Swrup
In Zoë Kravitz’s ‘Blink Twice,’ Slater King, the uncanny tech billionaire, remains the central impetus for the film’s unnerving yet thrilling narrative. After a chance meeting with Frida, a waitress at a gala, Slater offers the chance of a lifetime to the woman and her friend, Jess, and invites them to laze away on a vacation at his private island. Consequently, the two women find themselves surrounded by unrestricted debauchery in the company of the billionaire’s other guests. However, as Frida notices the discrepancies in her own memories, she soon realizes that if things seem too good to be true—they probably are.
Throughout the film, the honeyed island presents an ever-elusive mystery that sports Slater King on its center stage as the key to unlocking reality. From the gala, held in the name of Slater Tech Company’s foundation charity, to the island itself—every piece of the puzzle remains stamped with Slater’s mark. As such, in unraveling the sinister mystery behind the billionaire and his island, fans may find themselves obliged to tug at the thread between the character and his possible roots in reality. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Slater King’s: Zoë Kravitz’s Inspiration Behind His Narrative
The character of Slater King, and thereby the assets attached to his name, including his tech company, charity foundation, and private island, are created solely in service of the film ‘Blink Twice.’ As a result, the character himself becomes confined within the film’s fictitious narrative, lacking a definitive counterpart in reality. Still, the film boasts an inescapable identity as a commentary on the current social landscape, particularly in relation to gender-driven power struggles. For the same reason, various parts of its narrative inherently end up paralleling certain aspects of real life. Channing Tatum’s on-screen character, Slater King, remains the most prominent example of the same.
In the film, Slater’s character is intrinsically tied to the themes of gender-driven power abuse, landing him on the exploitative end of the dynamic. Consequently, viewers are bound to liken him to some of the alleged abusers who were highlighted in the public eye during the 2017 rise of the #MeToo movement. Director Zoë Kravitz, who co-wrote the film alongside E.T. Feigenbaum, started working on the project before the movement. Even so, the cultural shift that followed the movement inevitably influenced the project’s development, shaping its narrative as well as its characters, including Slater.
“I started writing it pre–#MeToo, pre–Harvey (Weinstein),” Kravitz told Elle in a 2022 interview. “Then the world started to have the conversation, so (the script) changed a lot. It became more about a power struggle and what that power struggle means. I rewrote it a million times.” As such, it remains evident that the influence of certain personalities, such as Weinstein, left a mark on Slater’s character. Likewise, another possible comparison emerges between the character and Jeffrey Epstein, the infamous sex offender who allegedly engaged in sex trafficking on his private island.
Nonetheless, despite the parallels that exist between Epstein and Slater, the two remain unconnected in terms of direct inspiration. In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Kravitz addressed the same, clarifying, “Yeah, and it’s all a metaphor. It’s not so literal. So that (Jeffrey Epstein) situation, that particular place, and person, that documentary or whatever it was, came out not even halfway through writing (Blink Twice).” Therefore, Slater remains a fictional character who simply represents various men who have abused their positions of power over the years. However, the on-screen billionaire isn’t directly based on any particular real-life individual.
Slater King’s Private Island: The Origins Behind the Island of Horrors
Much like its owner, Slater King’s mysterious island also retains an intriguing origin in reality. Initially, fans may be compelled to correlate the island to Jeffrey Epstein’s actual island. Nonetheless, as per Zoë Kravitz, the inspiration behind equipping Slater with his private island came from other sources. “(But again,) I set this on an island because I wanted to isolate the characters and have them deal with this situation,” said the filmmaker. She went on to cite stories such as ‘Lord of the Flies’ or the biblical Garden of Eden as the core inspirations behind Slater Island.
As a result, the island follows in Slater’s footsteps and remains a fictionalized metaphor in service of the film’s socially relevant themes rather than a recreation of any real-life locations. Alternatively, the place further lacks a physical basis in a real-life island. Instead, the location that becomes Slater Island’s backdrop is actually a hacienda located in the Mexican jungles of Mérida, Yucatán. Although the unique location robs the on-screen island of sceneries comprising beaches, it still works to establish a sense of disconnection from the outside world. Furthermore, the idyllically historical look of the place enhances Slater’s character as a successful and powerful individual.
Read More: Blink Twice: Is the Channing Tatum Movie Based on a True Story?
