''Gemini'' is a 2017 American
mystery
Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
*Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange''
Films
* ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film
* ''Mystery'' ( ...
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 ...
written, directed and edited by
Aaron Katz. It stars
Lola Kirke
Lola Clementine Kirke (born 27 September 1990) is a British-American actress and singer-songwriter. She starred in the 2015 film ''Mistress America'' and the Amazon Studios television series ''Mozart in the Jungle.'' She appeared in '' Gone Girl ...
,
Zoë Kravitz
Zoë Isabella Kravitz (born December 1, 1988) is an American actress, singer, and model. She made her acting debut in the romantic comedy film '' No Reservations'' (2007). Her breakthrough came with portraying Angel Salvadore in the superhero fi ...
,
Greta Lee,
Nelson Franklin,
Reeve Carney
Reeve Jefferson Carney (born April 18, 1983) is an American actor and singer-songwriter. He is best known for originating the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in '' Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark'' on Broadway and playing Orpheus in the original B ...
,
Jessica Parker Kennedy
Jessica Parker Kennedy (born October 3, 1984) is a Canadian actress. She played Melissa Glaser on the CW series ''The Secret Circle'', Max on the Starz original series '' Black Sails'' and Nora West-Allen / XS on ''The Flash'', and has also app ...
,
Ricki Lake
Ricki Pamela Lake (born September 21, 1968) is an American television host and actress. She is known for her lead role as Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 film ''Hairspray'', for which she received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for B ...
, and
John Cho
John Cho (born Cho Yo-Han; June 16, 1972) is an American actor known for his roles as Harold Lee in the '' Harold & Kumar'' films, and Hikaru Sulu in the ''Star Trek'' rebooted film series.
Early in his career, Cho also starred in the Asian A ...
. The plot follows the assistant of a Hollywood actress who must clear her name after her starlet boss is found murdered in her home.
The film had its world premiere at
South by Southwest
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...
on March 12, 2017, and was released in the United States on March 30, 2018, by
Neon.
Plot
In Los Angeles, Jill LaBeau is a friend and personal assistant to movie star Heather Anderson. Heather has decided to drop out of an upcoming film, upsetting numerous people, as the movie will not go forward without her in it. Late one night, at Heather's request, Jill walks into a diner to break the news of Heather's decision to Greg, the director. After he leaves, Heather enters, joins Jill, and is then joined by Sierra, an awkward fan. Sierra asks to take a picture with Heather, and she reluctantly agrees. Sierra posts the photo on social media.
As they leave the diner, paparazzi ask questions and take photos of Heather. One of them, Stan, asks Heather about Devin, her ex-boyfriend, and Tracy, her rumored new love interest. The two women go to Jill's apartment. Heather asks Jill to lend her gun to her, a .22 snub nose. Jill is hesitant, but Heather says she does not feel safe with so many people angry at her. Jill loads the gun with bullets and gives it to her. They then go out to a nightclub where they meet up with Tracy. Before they leave, Tracy tells Heather she will be at the cabin the next day. Tracy and Heather kiss before parting ways.
Jill and Heather drive to Heather's mansion, where Jill ends up spending the night. Before they go to sleep, Heather notices a motion light turn on outside, but Jill dismisses it, saying it is probably just a coyote. Jill wakes up the next morning and takes the gun out of Heather's purse. It accidentally goes off, shattering a nearby coin case. Jill confesses to a startled Heather that she thought about taking the gun away, but she leaves it with Heather. After running some errands that morning, Jill returns to the mansion where she is shocked to discover Heather lying dead on the floor from gunshot wounds, with Jill's gun nearby. The coin collection is also gone. Police arrive at the mansion, and Detective Ahn makes Jill some tea as he interviews her. Jill later goes to the beach and tries calling Tracy, but she is only able to leave a message.
After meeting with Heather's agent, Jill returns to her apartment, but sees several police officers in the complex. As she tries to get away without being noticed, she is caught by Detective Ahn, who takes her to a nearby diner. He informs her that all the evidence points to her so far: her fingerprints are on the gun and shell casings, and her hands tested positive for gun powder residue. They both notice that someone next to them is recording their conversation—Stan. While Ahn is briefly distracted by Stan, Jill slips away.
Jill gets her hair dyed blonde and goes to talk with Greg. While he packs his bags for a trip to Scotland, the two discuss who might have killed Heather. Police knock on the door, and Greg answers while Jill slips out the back. Jill then tracks down Devin to a bar. She talks to him and tries to find out where he was the night before and that morning, but Devin avoids the question and asks Jill about Heather's relationship with Tracy. Devin leaves without giving any answers, but leaves his hotel key at the bar. Jill takes it and searches his hotel room while Devin and his girlfriend are at the desk getting another key. In Devin's belongings, she finds a rare coin similar to the ones that were at Heather's house. When Devin and his girlfriend come back, Jill hides in the closet and overhears Devin asking his girlfriend to provide him with an alibi for Heather's murder. Though he maintains his innocence, he claims an alibi will make everything easier.
After sneaking out of Devin's room, Jill calls Tracy for help. She arrives and takes Jill to her house. Jill shows Tracy the rare coin she found in Devin's belongings, thinking it could be one of the ones that was taken from Heather's house. Tracy thinks it is just another one that Devin already owns.
Late that night, Jill overhears Tracy talking to someone on the phone; she hears her say "I can get her to come up to the cabin", "she's asleep now", and "I just really think I should bring her up there before something happens." While exploring the other rooms in the house, Jill finds the coins taken from Heather's mansion. She decides to sneak out of the house.
Jill rides a motorcycle away from Tracy's house and manages to lose a police car that is tailing her. She stops at a laundromat and listens to a message from Detective Ahn. She then sees a breaking news report that the police have retracted their ID of Heather as the murder victim. Jill then looks at social media accounts and sees that not only does Sierra, the fan they met at the diner, look like Heather, she even has the same Gemini tattoo on the back of her neck.
Early the next morning, Jill rides the motorcycle up to the cabin. Inside, she finds Heather, alive and well. The dead girl is Sierra; Heather shot Sierra when she broke into the house the morning before, but was too scared to go to the police. Jill is furious and Heather apologizes. For all that she has been through, Heather lets Jill punch her in the face.
Sometime later, Jill is helping Heather prepare for a TV interview about the incident. Detective Ahn stops by to watch.
Cast
Production
In May 2016,
Lola Kirke
Lola Clementine Kirke (born 27 September 1990) is a British-American actress and singer-songwriter. She starred in the 2015 film ''Mistress America'' and the Amazon Studios television series ''Mozart in the Jungle.'' She appeared in '' Gone Girl ...
,
Zoë Kravitz
Zoë Isabella Kravitz (born December 1, 1988) is an American actress, singer, and model. She made her acting debut in the romantic comedy film '' No Reservations'' (2007). Her breakthrough came with portraying Angel Salvadore in the superhero fi ...
,
John Cho
John Cho (born Cho Yo-Han; June 16, 1972) is an American actor known for his roles as Harold Lee in the '' Harold & Kumar'' films, and Hikaru Sulu in the ''Star Trek'' rebooted film series.
Early in his career, Cho also starred in the Asian A ...
,
Ricki Lake
Ricki Pamela Lake (born September 21, 1968) is an American television host and actress. She is known for her lead role as Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 film ''Hairspray'', for which she received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for B ...
,
Greta Lee,
Michelle Forbes
Michelle Renee Forbes Guajardo (born January 8, 1965) is an American actress who has appeared on television and in independent films. Forbes gained attention for her dual role in daytime soap opera ''Guiding Light'', for which she received a D ...
,
Nelson Franklin,
Reeve Carney
Reeve Jefferson Carney (born April 18, 1983) is an American actor and singer-songwriter. He is best known for originating the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in '' Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark'' on Broadway and playing Orpheus in the original B ...
,
Jessica Parker Kennedy
Jessica Parker Kennedy (born October 3, 1984) is a Canadian actress. She played Melissa Glaser on the CW series ''The Secret Circle'', Max on the Starz original series '' Black Sails'' and Nora West-Allen / XS on ''The Flash'', and has also app ...
and
James Ransone joined the cast of the film, with
Aaron Katz directing from a screenplay he wrote, while
Mynette Louie
Mynette Louie is an American film producer of Chinese descent. She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy and Critics Choice Award in 2018 for HBO's ''The Tale'', won the 2015 Independent Spirit Awards John Cassavetes Award for ''Land Ho!'', and won ...
, Sara Murphy and
Adele Romanski produced it.
Keegan DeWitt composed the film's score.
Filming
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
began in May 2016.
Release
The film had its world premiere at
South by Southwest
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...
on March 12, 2017. Shortly after,
Neon acquired US distribution rights to the film.
Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions
Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) is a specialty film division of Sony Pictures. The company specializes in acquiring and producing films for a wide variety of distribution platforms.
History
The group became a stand-alone division of ...
distributed the film internationally under their
Stage 6 Films
Stage 6 Films, Inc. is an American film production label of Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions that acquires and produces feature films that are low budget and that are being released straight-to-DVD, on demand, or through streaming services. ...
banner. It was released in the United States on March 30, 2018.
Reception
On
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
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 ...
, the film has an approval rating of 71% based on 79 reviews, with an average rating of 6.20/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A kaleidoscopic neo-noir, ''Gemini'' is a visually striking murder mystery with a convoluted but largely compelling plot and an impressive showing from Lola Kirke." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film holds a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
References
External links
*
*
*
* {{Rotten Tomatoes, gemini_2017
2017 films
2017 thriller films
2010s mystery thriller films
American mystery thriller films
American neo-noir films
2010s English-language films
Films about actors
Films scored by Keegan DeWitt
Films set in Los Angeles
Films shot in Los Angeles
2010s American films