“I forgot to remember to forget,” sang Elvis Presley in 1955, and similar mental gymnastics are required to figure out what’s actually happening — or has been happening — in this upscale twisty-turny horror thriller. But although it raises serious and intriguing questions about hot-button issues and features a top-notch cast that couldn’t possibly be bettered, Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut winds up leaving us to ponder more moral conundrums than it can properly answer in the format of high-end genre film. The premise is a very good and timely one (think of a female-fronted Get Out ), but the script doesn’t exactly follow suit, taking the well-trodden M.
Night Shyamalan route to its big reveal. One of its plus points is the casting of the excellent Naomi Ackie as Frida, a stoic but dispirited gig-economy hospitality worker (is there any other kind?) who spends her evenings doom-scrolling on her mobile and wondering how to make the rent. Her gloom lifts somewhat at the news that millionaire tech bro Slater King ( Channing Tatum ) is going to be at one of her events, to the extent that she is warned not to be as forward with the talent as she has been in the past.
Frida is not perturbed, even though she has seen his Reels confession on Instagram, apologizing for his “regrettable behavior”. What this ever actually entailed will be left to the viewer’s imagination, but we do learn that King has decided to step down as CEO and spend time thinking about wha.