Delayed Reaction: Gemini

Premise: After her boss/friend (Zoe Kravitz) is murdered, the assistant to a Hollywood star (Lola Kirke) goes on the run when it's clear that the police think she's the killer.

There's a group of movies in my assorted movie queues that I cannot tell apart: Gemini, Fast Color, Little Woods, Vincent N Roxy, and a few others. I couldn't tell you what I find interchangeable about them - possibly that they all-star youngish actresses and I'd never heard of the movies until they popped up on a streamer. Regardless, I'll get around to these on occasion, not even sure which one I'm picking. When I watched Gemini, I sort of thought it was Little Woods, which made it a fun surprise, I suppose.

I feel like L.A. neo-noirs are becoming more or more frequent. They are cheap to make, since everyone is already in Los Angeles. By making it a noir, audiences are immediately 10% more likely to forgive if something doesn't make sense (I'm not sure why. It's just a fact). The performances don't even have to be very good. As long as everyone just acts a little distanced, like they just heard something faint that they can't make out, then the performances are easy to make look consistent.

That's certainly the case with Gemini. It's better the less you think about the mechanics of the story. The twists require a lot of suspension of disbelief. It's easy to be aware of the limitations of the location scouting (unless using the same two rooms in a mansion was a narrative choice).

I liked the movie well enough though. Lola Kirke is a good lead and does good work selling the story. Zoe Kravitz is giving the same aloof performance that every casting director until recently (High Fidelity) asked from her. The nature of their friendship felt like it came from experience. I like that John Cho shows up like he's the lead in his own movie.

I'm not sure if this is intentional or a happy accident, but I appreciated how little tension there was in the movie. The big twist is pretty anti-climactic, which makes the lack of tension feel right. Now, they could've been aiming for tension and failed, but I'd rather take the optimistic view. When the movie ended, I had a "what the hell was the point of all that?" feeling, which kind of matches Lola Kirke's position.

Verdict: Weakly Don't Recommend