In the Blink of an Eye (2026) Film Review

In the Blink of an Eye tells three separate stories, elevating them by highlighting the shared human experience across many hundreds of years.

The result, written by Colby Day, is clearly big on ideas and ambition, going back and forth between three separate stories in the distant past, the present, and the distant future.

One story is about a family of Neanderthals led by Thorn (Jorge Vargas) living their lives and dealing with the birth of their newest member, a series of illnesses, and the assimilation into a different race of mankind. Another takes place in the present where scientist Claire (Rashida Jones, The Social Network) tries to balance life between her boyfriend (Daveed Diggs, Nickel Boys) and her cancer-ridden mother. Finally, we have Kate McKinnon (Barbie) as astronaut Coakley, who’s been sent into space on a mission to preserve humanity with her AI assistant while trying to save her oxygen-providing plants from an unknown illness.

If you caught the fact that sickness plays a role in all three stories, then you can probably already see what the movie is going for here and assume – rightly so – that many more similarities exist as the film goes on. In the Blink of an Eye as a whole is about the shared human experience, how things transcend and prevail even through the most different of times, how frail we are yet how universal life always has been and always will be… yeah, I think you get the idea. It’s a core tenet that’s been repeated a lot in art and in reality. But it’s also a tenet so timeless, expansive, and important that it warrants being retold to us.

Because these three stories never directly intersect, the most important thing for most people is whether or not each one is good on its own. The answer is yes, even if the interest levels of each have peaks and valleys. The Neanderthal story contains no comprehensible dialogue, forcing you to rely entirely on the characters’ actions, inflections, and good old-fashioned visual storytelling. It’s a simple survival tale that shows the comparative harshness of that time and the roots of modern-day humanity, with actors like Vargas, Tanaya Beatty (Crimes of the Future), and Skywalker Hughes (Ordinary Angels) holding your attention when their words can’t.

The present-day plot is where most of the film’s somewhat awkward dialogue is found, mainly in the romance, and it’s the least inherently interesting on its own. But Jones and Diggs carry you through with the heartbreak and happiness that comes with the often-heavy developments in their lives. Kate McKinnon, however, is the standout. As much as she’s known for being the haha wacky nutcase meme lady in most of her movies, I forgot that she can pull off drama pretty well. Her character has the most to deal with out of anyone, and though her story is mostly typical sci-fi stuff about human survival and space travel, it’s given the weight it needs to hold your attention and really comes into its own later on.

All three stories are elevated by Stanton’s direction. A lot of scenes reminded me of his work on WALL-E, where he frequently let the atmosphere and music of a scene play out with no dialogue other than what was needed to convey the plot or emotion. That same approach works wonders here, even in the modern storyline. It’s easy to picture the characters only being verbal mouthpieces to state the clear themes out loud, but In the Blink of an Eye is much more graceful in letting you make that connection yourself by immersing you in everyone’s shoes.

Could these three stories have been even stronger as their own movies, or even as parts of a longer movie? Yes, especially towards the ending portions. None of them are outstanding on their own. But that’s made up for by all the little connections made between these tales. There’s just always going to be something beautiful about seeing love, loss, parenthood, mortality, new frontiers, and small symbols of time all persevering in entirely different forms, from the most obvious broad strokes to little minutia. The film knows this, as it cuts back and forth between the stories instead of running each one all the way through before moving to the next.

In the Blink of an Eye is simply… nice. It’s a very nice, wholesome movie that brings you on a simple journey through time, with the goal of reminding you how small but everlasting we are as people. There are movies that have done this same thing with more precision and creativity, but I always welcome new forms of delivering such a message while also just being emotionally engaging in their own right. I loved Here for very similar reasons… though given both that and this movie’s reception, maybe I just have a soft spot for these themes. But whether or not I’m alone in doing so, I’ll appreciate this movie for longer than the blink of an eye.

In the Blink of an Eye is now available to stream on Hulu, on Disney+, and on digital platforms.

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