Directorial debuts are always a crapshoot. Sometimes they turn out great like Get Out, and other times like, say, Simon Kinberg’s Dark Phoenix, they’re downright awful. You never know what you’re going to get. When I heard that actress Zoë Kravitz was stepping into the director’s chair for a psychological thriller called Blink Twice, I found myself both nervous and intrigued. I had no idea if she’d be any good in this new role, but I couldn’t wait to find out.

Blink Twice was directed and co-written by Zoë Kravitz, and it stars a pretty big ensemble, including Naomi Ackie, Channing Tatum, Adria Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, and Alia Shawkat. In the film, a billionaire tech mogul named Slater meets Frida and Jess at a super fancy party, and they immediately hit it off. These two women fit right in with Slater’s elite group of friends, so at the end of the night, he invites them to spend a few days on his private island.

Naturally, they accept the invitation without a second thought, and when they arrive, the place seems like paradise. There’s amazing gourmet food, a seemingly endless flow of drinks, and raucous, drug-fueled parties every night. But soon enough, the friends start to notice that something isn’t quite right here, and they eventually learn that Slater and his friends aren’t the nice guys they make themselves out to be.

I’m not going to bury the lead. Blink Twice is a fantastic movie, and nearly everything about it is crafted to perfection. Take the characters, for instance. This entire cast is amazing, and almost all of these characters have unique personalities that make them feel like real people rather than generic cardboard cutouts.

But as usual, some of these characters get more time to shine than others, and in this film, two of them stand head and shoulders above the rest. First, we have Slater, played brilliantly by Channing Tatum. When Blink Twice starts, he has a sympathetic sincerity and charm about him, but he’s not perfect. Tatum plays him with a bit of awkwardness when he’s around Frida, and that just makes him even more believable and relatable.

You can’t help but like the guy, but once you learn what’s really going on, he becomes a completely different person. Slater turns into a complete jerk, and once again, Tatum totally nails the vibe, compelling you to hate him just as much as you loved him in the beginning.

Next, we have to talk about Frida. She’s played by Naomi Ackie, and just like Channing Tatum, Ackie also knocks it out of the park. Initially, her character is a wide-eyed, naive, star-struck girl who can’t believe a big celebrity like Slater likes her, but as Blink Twice goes on, Ackie gets to show off just as wide a range as her male co-star.

Sometimes Frida is absolutely terrified, other times she’s the badass hero of the story, and still other times she falls somewhere between those two extremes, but whatever this woman is doing, she’s completely convincing. It’s a legit powerhouse of a performance, and along with Tatum and the rest of the cast, Ackie gives this movie a rock-solid foundation.

On top of those great characters, Blink Twice also features some excellent horror. Before we learn what’s really going on at this place, we get a few hints that something isn’t quite right. For example, some of the staff on the island act pretty weird, and there’s a scene where Frida notices dirt under nails but can’t remember how it got there.

Those little clues make for a great buildup, and when we finally learn the truth, the film gets even better. I’m not going to spoil anything, but I can say that Slater and his crew are absolutely heinous. The things they do to their victims are genuinely sickening, and when you see these crimes on screen, you’ll almost feel the evil in your bones. This is the uncomfortable, unsettling kind of horror nobody really enjoys watching, and I mean that as a compliment.

Then, when the third act finally comes, Blink Twice switches gears and goes all-in on the terror. This part of the movie has everything from a surprising amount of gore to white-knuckle horror action, and when co-writer/director Zoë Kravitz cranks up the tension, there are a few scenes that might even make you squirm. It’s a fantastic end to a fantastic film. If there was ever any doubt about Kravitz’s talents behind the camera, her debut has definitively put them to rest.

Last but not least, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say a bit about the message of Blink Twice. Again, I can’t go into any real detail without spoiling the movie’s surprises, but I can say that this story is a horrific exploration of the ways men in our society objectify and abuse women. It hammers that message home in a brutally effective way, but unlike a lot of other films, it never feels like it’s just beating a dead horse. It manages to avoid the two extremes of being too subtle and too on the nose, and if you’re a hardcore movie fan, you know that can be a tough balance to pull off.

Like I said before, Blink Twice is a fantastic film. It’s a great story brought to life with excellent characters and awesome horror, and it has an important message that’s both timely and timeless. It’s not quite perfect, but to be frank, the good in it outweighs the bad so much that it’s not even worth talking about the movie’s flaws. This is simply a great experience from start to finish. If you’re on the prowl for something new to watch, I highly recommend that you check this film out.