I’ve liked director Aaron Katz ever since a friend loaned me DVDs of his early ‘mumblecore’ films Dance Party USA and Quiet City. With Gemini (2017), Katz still retains intimacy between characters and small stakes stories but has more cinematic, smoother visual style now. Much like an earlier film he did, Cold Weather, Gemini is in love with the images and cliches of noir mysteries even if the actual plot and mystery is quite slight upon reflection. Focusing on the relationship between Jill (Lola Kirke) and the Hollywood star that she is both friend and PA to, Heather (Zoe Kravitz), the film follows their neon lit, palm tree adorned relationship until one morning a body is found and Jill has to play amateur detective. Backed by good support from John Cho as a suspicious cop and James Ransome as a sleazy paparazzi, I enjoyed the film for its surfaces and its long-day-journey-into-night sojourn for Jill. Accompanied by a trap-beats-meets-sax-solo score by Keegan Dewitt. It won’t please everyone but I liked it – definitely for fans of neo-noir.
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