Movie Review: Killer Heat (2024)

Genre: Neo-Noir Mystery  

Director: Philippe Lacôte  

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Richard Madden  

Running Time: 97 minutes  

Synopsis: On the Greek island of Crete, private detective Nick Bali (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is hired by Penelope Vardakis (Shailene Woodley) to probe the death of her brother-in-law Leo (Richard Madden), who supposedly fell to his death while rock climbing. The wealthy Vardakis family controls the island, and Penelope is married to Leo's twin brother Elias (also Madden), the CEO of the family's business empire. Nick's sleuthing uncovers a web of jealousy linked to a long-ago relationship between Penelope and Leo, and teams up with local police detective Mensah to uncover the truth.

What Works Well: The Crete filming locations are attractive, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt brings the requisite ruffled curiosity to the role of a private investigator running from his own jealousy demons. The narration is marginally overdone, but mostly effective.

What Does Not Work As Well: The commitment to noir fundamentals is admirable, but locating this mystery under bright Mediterranean skies defeats any attempt at a dark aesthetic. The plot machinations are undone by a focus on too few characters (Nick, Penelope, and Elias) limiting the potential pool of conspirators. Shailene Woodley struggles to convey a femme fatale's complexity, and once revealed, the evil intentions and follow-up actions hardly make any sense.

Key Quote:

Nick (narrating): Sometimes you use a carrot. Sometimes you use a stick. Sometimes you just lie your ass off.



All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.