''Blink'' is a 1993 American

neo-noir Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates literally to English as "black film", indicating ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Michael Apted Michael David Apted, (10 February 1941 – 7 January 2021) was a British television and film director and producer. Apted began working in television and directed the '' Up'' documentary series (1964–2019). He later directed '' Coal Miner's ...

and written by Dana Stevens starring

Madeleine Stowe Madeleine Marie Stowe Mora (born August 18, 1958) is an American actress. She appeared mostly on television before her role in the 1987 crime-comedy film ''Stakeout''. She went on to star in the films ''Revenge'' (1990), ''Unlawful Entry'' (199 ...

and

Aidan Quinn Aidan Quinn (born March 8, 1959) is an American actor who made his film debut in '' Reckless'' (1984). He has starred in over 80 feature films, including ''Desperately Seeking Susan'' (1985), '' The Mission'' (1986), ''Stakeout'' (1987), ''Aval ...

. Director

was nominated for a Crystal Globe award for the film at the

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival ( cs, Mezinárodní filmový festival Karlovy Vary) is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become ...

, and screenwriter Dana Stevens was nominated for Best Motion Picture at the

Edgar Allan Poe Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

-winning actress

Laurie Metcalf Laura Elizabeth Metcalf (born June 16, 1955) is an American actress. Often described as a character actor, she's known for her complex and versitile roles across the stage and screen. She has received various accolades throughout her career sp ...

also had a role in the film.

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

rock band

The Drovers The Drovers was a Chicago-based rock band whose original songs are influenced by Irish traditional dance music. Founded by Irish traditional fiddler Sean Cleland in 1988, the group recorded four albums and soundtrack music for the motion pictur ...

played a support role as themselves, contributing three songs to the soundtrack. Stowe's character, Emma, is a fiddler in the group. Some scenes were filmed in Chicago,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Plot

Emma Brody is a young musician who has been blind for 20 years. New surgery techniques restore her vision but initially cause "vision flashes" that leave her uncertain about what she sees. One night, she is awakened by a noise in the apartment above. Peeking out her door, she "sees" a figure descending the stairs. She contacts the police, worried that her neighbor has been murdered, but she, (and the police) are unsure whether it was just her new vision deceiving her. The killer then begins to stalk Emma.

Cast

Reception

The film received mixed to positive reviews. It holds a 64% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

from 25 critics. ''

The Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the movie three-and-a-half (of four) stars, saying "... it is an uncommonly good thriller."

Box office

The film debuted at number 4 at the US box office. It grossed $16,696,219 in the US and Canada and $21.7 million worldwide.

Year-end lists

*Dishonorable mention – Glenn Lovell, ''

San Jose Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidiar ...

'' * Dishonorable mention – William Arnold, ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The newspaper was foun ...

References

External links

* * * {{Michael Apted 1993 films 1990s English-language films 1993 crime thriller films 1990s mystery thriller films 1990s psychological thriller films American crime thriller films American mystery thriller films American psychological thriller films Films about blind people Films directed by Michael Apted Films shot in Chicago Films set in Chicago American neo-noir films Films scored by Brad Fiedel New Line Cinema films 1990s American films Films about disability