Director: Aaron Katz
Writer: Aaron Katz (Screenplay)
Starring: Lola Kirke, Zoe Kravitz, John Cho, Greta Lee, Ricki Lake, Michelle Forbes
Plot: A heinous crime tests the complex relationship between a tenacious personal assistant and her Hollywood starlet boss. As the assistant unravels the mystery, she must confront her own understanding of friendship, truth and celebrity.
Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Stylish Thriller
Story: Gemini starts as we meet celebrity Heather Anderson (Kravitz) who along with her assistant Jill (Kirke) are going through a tough time of dealing with being in the spotlight, Heather is backing out of films after a recent break up, as well as becoming worried about her safety.
When Heather is killed, Jill becomes the prime suspect with Detective Edward Ahn (Cho) investigating the murder, while Jill looks to get to the bottom of everything, about why her friend was killed.
Thoughts on Gemini
Characters – Jill is the assistant to celebrity Heather, they have a strong friendship, with Jill being the connection to Heather when people want contact with her, she does become the prime suspect in her murder and must search for the truth. Heather Anderson is the celebrity that is starting to worry about her safety, this leads to her wanting to relax with Jill, only to see herself killed with her murder being investigated. Detective Edward Ahn is trying to get to the bottom of the murder, he is tracking Jill believing she is behind it.
Performances – Lola Kirke in the leading role works well as the one that is left devastated about losing her best friend as well as wanting to learn the truth. Zoe Kravitz as the celebrity that is going through the bad time, Zoe brings this to life well, being in the spotlight makes this easier to understand. John Cho is good as the detective without needing to do to much with his role.
Story – The story here follows a celebrity that was worrying about her own safety that gets killed with her assistant trying to learn who was responsible for it. This is a story that does show the fear celebrities could be facing as they deal with the pressure of the limelight getting to somebody. The investigation does follow one person trying to learn who might have killed Heather, with most conversations leading to new clues, it does have a style to it, which does work very nicely for the film look, but doesn’t improve the story.
Crime/Mystery – The crime side of the film follows the investigation into the murder, though we don’t have many clues to follow, with the mystery about why, which just doesn’t come to the forefront enough during the film.
Settings – The film does use the LA setting through the film to show the spotlight holding people back in life.
Scene of the Movie – The truth.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – There isn’t enough about what happened being investigated.
Final Thoughts – This is a crime thriller that has plenty of style, without having the substance behind the depth of the story, with strong performances throughout.
Overall: All style, no substance.
