Review of Don't Blink (2014) by Jesse O — 22 Oct 2015

This isn't that bad of a film, but it really ends up feeling like an extended Twilight Zone episode. They even make mention of this as the shit starts to hit the fan. I didn't entirely dislike this movie, in fact I think the concept is good enough to where you wanna see where the film is headed.

But, honestly, a big problem for the film is the fact that it feels twice as long as it should've been. It's like this was meant as an episode for another Twilight Zone revival episode but it got canned because the series didn't get picked up.

So, thinking that they had a winning script on their hands, they decided to stretch everything out so the film was as twice as long as it should've been. It probably wasn't planned like this, at all, but that's how it comes across when you're watching it.

Don't get me wrong, the movie is certainly watchable and there's some solid acting from all involved, but there's nothing really that special about the movie and, honestly, it all just feels a little dull and uninspired.

Uninspired in the sense that they knew they had an intriguing concept and hoped that that would be enough to carry the film. Newsflash: It isn't. Again, you're intrigued enough to want to see it through to its end, but that doesn't mean you'd necessarily like a lot of it.

While the idea of people disappearing when no one in the group is looking at them is certainly a fine one, I think it leads to a lot of unsatisfying moments. Not creatively, but I mean, at least, Mena Suvari's sudden disappearance from the film never to be seen again.

That's unsatisfying in the sense that I think Mena is a talented actress and it's really disappointing to see her not get a lot of screen time before she just, literally, disappears. Like it's honestly a waste of her talents.

That's the really disappointing part of it. And, of course, this is one of those movies where they don't bother explaining what happened, so if you're expecting to find out, then don't.

You will be severely disappointed. It always came across, to me, like one of those types of film where nothing is explained, so I wasn't actually disappointed about that. That never actually bothered me as much as the film being a little dull to get through was.

The pacing certainly left a lot to be desired. It doesn't help that the film felt considerably longer than it had any right to be. With that said, it's not a terrible film. Decent concept and acting make this watchable at best, below average at worst.

It's nothing that you need to see, however.