'In the Blink of an Eye' Review
- Connor Petrey
- 7 hours ago
- 2 min read
Release Date: 02/27/26 [Hulu on Disney+]
Genre: Drama. SciFi.
MPAA: Rated PG13.
Distributor: Searchlight Pictures.
The Verdict: A Mistake
From the director of Wall-E and the writer of the criminally underrated Spaceman (2024), In the Blink of an Eye has a sound premise but its mixing of tone and storytelling creates an uncomfortable pacing issue.Â
Rashida Jones, Kate McKinnon, Daveed Diggs… just those three names alone had me intrigued. Little did I know two of the three would share the screen together as this was a secret anthology. Taking place in three drastically different time frames of Neanderthal times, the present, and far in the future - the story is meant to reflect the impact of humanity from different perspectives, but it can come off as relentlessly pretentious and I do not use that word lightly.Â
There’s three separately compelling stories here, but they’re not fleshed out enough in this 90 minute movie to draw any emotional depth. The passage of time is extreme and when you start falling for one story, it’ll pass the torch to a less interesting piece of another’s narrative. The starting point is the Neanderthals and that was an unfortunate choice to start the film, as I found their storyline to be the least fascinating to watch. Kate McKinnon’s futuristic story about survival and AI comes in second with a compelling beginning and a rushed conclusion. But Rashida Jones and Daveed Diggs' romance is easily the biggest draw of the film that squanders any momentum with these unfortunate cuts.Â
It’s a sharp looking film and it’s instantly distinguishable between the time periods, but its slickness makes the whole experiment feel corrupted. While the performances lead the way, Colby Day’s script and Andrew Stanton’s return to live action unfortunately can’t decide what to say and exactly how. The performances aren’t the downside of the film, it’s that the material believes it’s much more profound than it is. For a film supposedly trying to suggest something deep with its messaging it ultimately delivers something surprisingly hollow.