Blink Twice's Memory Erasing & Antidote Explained

Blink Twice reveals that Frida (Naomi Ackie) and the other women who've been invited to Slater King's (Channing Tatum) private island are having their memories erased — nightly. The psychological thriller's terrifying twist only gets darker when the reasoning behind Slater's memory-erasing scheme comes to light. The billionaire tech mogul and his entourage of male friends — Vic (Christian Slater), Cody (Simon Rex), and Tom (Haley Joel Osment) — take pleasure in abusing and assaulting the women in the group. Erasing the survivors' memories means the men can continue abusing the women without being held accountable.

As Blink Twice's ending reiterates, the film is all about power dynamics, and the way those with power have absolute control over those without it. At the start of Zoë Kravitz's directorial debut, Frida and her best friend, Jess (Alia Shawkat), are exhausted cocktail waitresses who jump at the chance to party with a billionaire. As the film goes on, it becomes increasingly difficult for them to ignore Blink Twice's many hints or dismiss their memory gaps as the fallout of drugs and binge-drinking. Soon enough, Frida, Jess, and Sarah (Adria Arjona) realize just how much danger they're in.

The Perfume In Blink Twice Makes People Lose Their Memories

Slater King's Signature Scent Is A Stand-In For "Roofies"

From the moment Frida sets foot on Slater's private island in Blink Twice, Zoë Kravitz's clever psychological thriller teases that there's something strange about the island-made perfume Frida uses. When Slater shows Frida her private quarters, the aspiring nail artist is shocked to find clothes and toiletries waiting for her. Aside from a used lipstick, Frida finds a bottle of designer perfume called Desideria. After spraying a generous amount of the perfume on herself, Frida meets up with Jess, who points out the oddness of Slater's stocked rooms. Frida dismisses her friend, suggesting "it's rich," not suspicious.

The perfume's name suggests "longing" and "desire," but its true purpose is actually much more nefarious. Frida and the other women continue to innocently use the locally made perfume day in and out, which makes the reveal that it's erasing Blink Twice's characters' memories more disturbing. At the guests' last supper, Frida realizes that Lucas (Levon Hawke) smells like the island's signature perfume; he also doesn't remember bruising his eye. Of course, Frida and Sarah know that the perfume is the cause of their memory loss, but to see it working so effectively on someone else is still deeply unsettling.

How Slater King Created Blink Twice's Memory Erasing Drugs

The Island's Flowers Are The Source Of Blink Twice's Memory-Erasing Substance

Blink Twice doesn't really delve into all the details of how Slater King discovered the memory-erasing substance that's at the center of his perfume, but it provides enough context clues for viewers to piece it all together without the help of a Blink Twice post-credits scene or explainer. Kravitz's film puts the island's beautiful flowers front and center; Slater leaves them on Frida's pillow and brings them to her at dinner or while they walk around the island. Plus, the flowers grow everywhere. It seems that the island's native flora is the source of Slater's memory-erasing substance.

It's also implied that the flowers, or whatever memory-erasing substance they yield, is used in the food, drinks, and drugs that the women imbibe while on the island. Slater's frazzled assistant, Stacy (Geena Davis), also arranges bright-red bags filled with the perfume as parting gifts for all of Slater's guests, ensuring that they'll continue to expose themselves to the memory-erasing substance. Slater seems to have brought his therapist, Rich (Kyle MacLachlan), into the fold, convincing him that the perfume could have huge benefits — not just for his patients, but for potential victims.

Snake Venom Restores People's Forgotten Memories In Blink Twice

Blink Twice's Maid Has Frida Drink The Venom After Jess Is Bit By A Snake

When Frida notices the island's workers gathering and killing the yellow snakes that roam the property, Slater is quick to call the reptiles a "pest problem," but the tech mogul probably feels that way because the snakes' venom counteracts the effects of the memory-erasing flowers. Frida and the other women discover this link by chance. One night, Jess is bitten by a snake, which causes her to go into a complete tailspin as she remembers everything Slater and the men did to her and the other women. To salvage his scheme, Slater kills Jess, but makes the women forget.

Realizing Jess is missing, Frida investigates the island and has a run-in with the Badass Maid (María Elena Olivares), who previously tried to warn Frida with Blink Twice's Red Rabbit clue — a reference to Frida's nail art from the year before, when Slater first brought her to the island. The Badass Maid offers Frida a swig of her jug of home-strained snake venom cocktail, which Frida politely sips. When Frida realizes the snake venom counteracts the flowers and perfume, she and Sarah have Camilla (Liz Caribel) and Heather (Trew Mullen) take shots to restore their memories too.

How Frida Makes Slater Forget In Blink Twice's Ending

Slater's Vaping Habit Is The Key To Frida's Newfound Power

Earlier in the film, Slater waxes poetic about how "forgetting is a gift." Clearly, he thinks the flower-based perfume could help people seal away their trauma, but abuses his power by using the memory-erasing perfume on the women he assaults on his island. The worse one's experience, the easier it is for them to forget — or so it seems. At the movie's end, Frida secretly laces Slater's beloved vape pen with the memory-erasing perfume. Before he kills Sarah, Slater takes a hit, prompting him to panic when he sees tons of dead bodies all around him.

Although Slater knocks himself unconscious, Frida decides to save him from the villa when it catches fire. Sarah seems surprised by Frida's choice, but Blink Twice's protagonist has a plan of her own. The film ends at Slater's next gala, where it's revealed that Frida is not only married to Slater but his company's CEO. A disoriented Slater is still being drugged via his vape. Realizing the flower's impressive potential, Frida is using the flowers to keep Slater King compliant and build her own power. Ultimately, Blink Twice isn't about seeking justice, but wielding power, no matter how dark.

Was It Better That The Movie Didn't Explain The Science?

The Movie Does Not Need The Science

While some fans will always want the scientific explanation behind the flowers, the perfume, and the snake venom, ultimately, Blink Twice does not need to explain the science to tell its compelling story.

There is often a desire from the audience for an explanation or a breakdown of fictional technology and developments. The trouble is that for a lot of movies that take the time to break down the science, there ends up also being too much explanation that slows down the pacing of the movie. Taking the time to stop and explain how something works has to be completely carefully, especially in a thriller like Blink Twice. It takes the audience out of the moment if the explanation has to be spelled out in detail for them.

The process is different in something like a fantasy movie. Take the very different Harry Potter franchise as an example. History and magical elements have to be explained by someone already immersed in the world to the audience surrogate (in that case, Harry) in a way that engages them rather than bores them. Sometimes, it works out, but other times, the audience can figure it out through context clues.

In something like Blink Twice, the audience does not need the chemical makeup or reactions broken down for them because they see the effects of both the perfume and the snake venom play out in the events of the movie. It is enough that the women at the center of the movie are robbed of their agency and their memories for so long. Their experiences are already akin to more heightened effects of real-life date-rape drugs. The audience does not need the science behind them to understand the implications.

It is also enough to understand that Frida takes what she knows to gain revenge and power in Blink Twice. The audience does not need to see her figure out the exact science to understand that she has made the very thing that made her a victim work for her.