Gemini
GEMINI (2017)
Starring Lola Kirke, Zoë Kravitz, John Cho, Ricki Lake, Greta Lee, Michelle Forbes, Nelson Franklin, Reeve Carney, Jessica Parker Kennedy, James Ransone, Todd Louiso, Marianne Rendon, Gabriela Flores, Abraham Lim, Ted Stavros, Levy Tran, Naby Dakhli, Ray Reynaga and Chad Hartigan.
Screenplay by Aaron Katz.
Directed by Aaron Katz.
Distributed by Rough House Pictures. 93 minutes. Not Rated.
Screened at the 2017 Philadelphia Film Festival.
In Aaron Katz’s Gemini, Lola Kirke plays Jill, assistant to Hollywood starlet Heather, played by Zoë Kravitz. Jill is Heather’s right-hand woman and handler of all: the good, the bad, and the very ugly.
Heather is going through a personal crisis and needs to back out of an already scheduled project. She sends Jill in to break the news to the director at the designated public meeting space. When he leaves in a huff, Heather joins Jill. They are met by a “super fan” named Sierra, asking personal questions and requesting a selfie. Heather is gracious and agreeable until Sierra asks an inappropriately intimate question and they leave.
The plot thickens with paparazzi, angry management, the frustrated director, a soon-to-be ex live-in boyfriend, and a mixture of St. Germaine and Mello Yellow. All leading to Heather feeling “unsafe” and requesting Jill’s personal gun, which Heather once saw in Jill’s apartment. After some karaoke with Heather’s new love interest, Tracy, Jill and Heather go back to Heather’s Hollywood mansion and pass out.
Jill wakes up early, as assistants do, to continue the process of backing out of Heather’s work. She accidentally fires the gun, breaking the soon-to-be ex boyfriend’s coin display case, causing glass to shatter and Heather to run in. All is forgiven and Jill goes on her way.
She returns to a bloody scene and our mystery begins.
John Cho plays Detective Edward Ahn, in charge of the murder investigation. He is kind, inquisitive and suspicious of Jill, assuming that she must have ambitions beyond working as an assistant to a diva starlet. Her prints are on the gun. She has gunpowder under her nails and was the last person to have seen Heather. She is the number one suspect with motive, opportunity and capacity to kill.
Gemini was an unexpected enjoyment of a movie from the start. It fit the Formula checklist of a Hollywood indie hit… until the end. It has smart dialogue, film industry intrigue, mystery, murder, fast cars (and a faster bike), a funny/geeky/snappy scene, and a plot twist. The score is house beat and exciting, well matched for the beautiful cinematography.
It had me hooked until the last ten minutes. But, I was left wanting something more. Definitely a movie worth seeing, but hopefully they will make a director’s cut with an updated ending.
Bonnie Paul
Copyright ©2017 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: October 22, 2017.
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