Gemini (2017)
(In French, On TV, May 2021) Much about Gemini should work better than it does. Suggest a neo-noir thriller at the age of the social media panopticon and my ears will perk up; play up themes of the power dynamics between a star, a fan and an assistant and I will be intrigued; state that Zoe Kravitz will play a burnt-out young star and you will definitely get my attention. But upon viewing, Gemini is far limper than expected. Writer-director Aaron Katz doesn’t really seem interested in delivering a pure genre piece — his stylized direction is elliptical and scattered, while his script doesn’t commit to the ethos of genre mysteries or noir itself. By the time a central tenet of the film’s premise is nullified in the conclusion, many viewers will be tempted to cry foul — and not just from the basic implausibility of the twist. There is no narrative rhythm here — the scenes fall flat, the dialogue is banal, there’s little buildup of suspense, and as the conclusion suggests, Gemini isn’t even really interested in conventional storytelling. If you find yourself watching it, I suggest not getting overly involved —the film itself will keep you at a distance. It would be tempting to chalk this disappointment up to different expectations, but Gemini misses so many opportunities that it crosses over from a disappointment to being an honestly underwhelming film.