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Killer Heat

Play trailer 1:54 Poster for Killer Heat R 2024 1h 36m Crime Drama Mystery & Thriller Romance Play Trailer Watchlist
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18% Tomatometer 28 Reviews 30% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
A thrilling, contemporary mystery in classic noir style, Killer Heat follows private eye Nick Bali (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), an American expat in Greece, hired to investigate the supposed accidental death of young shipping magnate Leo Vardakis (Richard Madden) on the island of Crete. The victim's sister-in-law (Shailene Woodley) doesn't believe the official police report. But what exactly happened to Leo, and why? Despite the sun-drenched beauty of its exotic Mediterranean locale, Nick finds darkness at every turn: where the rich and powerful Vardakis family rule like gods, where jealousies run deep, and anyone could be a suspect.
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Killer Heat

Killer Heat

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Critics Consensus

A modern noir utterly lacking in intrigue, Killer Heat is disappointingly lukewarm.

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Critics Reviews

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Craig Mathieson The Age (Australia) Adapted from a short story by Jo Nesbo, this sun-drenched Mediterranean noir pushes hard-boiled menace and private eye diffidence to a tiring degree, but it lacks for a decent plot and even a hint of intrigue. Oct 3, 2024 Full Review Owen Gleiberman Variety The director, Philippe Lacôte, does an okay job of unfurling the story, yet somehow it all lacks… heat. Maybe that’s because he wants the dots he’s connecting to be sentimental. Oct 1, 2024 Full Review Benjamin Lee Guardian Killer Heat will not go down as the worst Nesbø adaptation out there but it will definitely be the most forgettable. Rated: 1/5 Sep 26, 2024 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Sluggish noir thriller. Rated: C Nov 19, 2024 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...familiar subject matter that’s employed to watchable yet entirely forgettable effect... Rated: 2.5/4 Oct 23, 2024 Full Review Clare Griffin Pajiba t may be one of the great comedies of the year. The only problem is that the people who made it thought they were making a gritty noir. Oct 16, 2024 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Paula C What a disappointment. Too many cliches, little to no character development and way too predictable. The protagonist is underdeveloped, over-confident and unsympathetic. It lacked in almost every aspect including cinematography which was a shame considering the beauty of the shoot location. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 12/12/24 Full Review David D Was looking forward to this film. Loved Madden in "Bodyguard," Gordon-Levitt's proved edgy and versatile in several films; Shalene Woodley has always been a little flat and opaque for me, i.e., serviceable. Adored Clare Holman in Morse sequels (terribly underused here). As soon as the twins were introduced, I assumed a switch, and shortly thereafter, well before mid point, assumed the wife was the "femme fatale." That's to say, despite a gorgeous setting, script was trite, weak, predictable. As for directing, zero pacing, tension, or style. Watch "Mallorca Files" for far more interesting and engaging plot lines and characters. Even find "Madam Blanc" more coluorful. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 12/05/24 Full Review Eva M Simply abysmal. Terrible plot, writing, and directing. Even the actors who are normally worth watching were terrible - can’t blame them given what they had to work with. Don’t waste your time on this Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 12/04/24 Full Review Henri K My wife and I enjoyed the movie. Not a bad story with twists and turns filmed in a beautiful setting. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 11/30/24 Full Review Marc Z This is a decent enough, made for Prime, murder mystery. Joseph Gordon Levitt is a sleuth with a complicated past that is hired to investigate the "accidental" death of a an identical twin Greek tycoon in Crete. Levitt is always likable, but not sure he has the depth to play the complicated Phillip Marlow type character he plays. The cast is decent, although as a Greek I found several not very deliverable as Greeks. Babou Ceesay, is very good, as the Police Office who believes the death is mysterious but couldn't prove it alone. The Half British-Half Greek family of wealthy fools are a little cliche' but make for the story. Not great but watchable. Crete is amazing and they do a good job displaying it here. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 11/28/24 Full Review Jim M Predictable but not terrible until the final twist. I was happy to give 3+ stars until the writers/director didn’t think the twist through. They missed a great opportunity to wrap the twist up nicely but instead they let it play out by chance, which doesn’t make sense. **Spoiler alert*** at the end, why would the wife let the PI confront the brother who knew she was the accomplice in the initial crime. She hired the PI to incriminate her brother, once she convinced the PI that the brother was the murderer she needed to kill the brother before the PI confronted him so the brother couldn’t tell the whole story. She just got super lucky that the mom shot before the brother said anything about the wife being an accomplice. Seems she went to great lengths to spin this web, why would she give the brother a chance to incriminate her. If the mom didn’t kill the brother he would’ve just been arrested and she goes to jail too. This twist was seen coming from a mile away, but it still would’ve been an ok movie if they executed the plot twist intelligently. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 11/26/24 Full Review Read all reviews
Killer Heat

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Movie Info

Synopsis A thrilling, contemporary mystery in classic noir style, Killer Heat follows private eye Nick Bali (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), an American expat in Greece, hired to investigate the supposed accidental death of young shipping magnate Leo Vardakis (Richard Madden) on the island of Crete. The victim's sister-in-law (Shailene Woodley) doesn't believe the official police report. But what exactly happened to Leo, and why? Despite the sun-drenched beauty of its exotic Mediterranean locale, Nick finds darkness at every turn: where the rich and powerful Vardakis family rule like gods, where jealousies run deep, and anyone could be a suspect.
Director
Philippe Lacôte
Producer
Brad Weston
Screenwriter
Matt Charman, Roberto Bentivegna
Distributor
Prime Video
Production Co
Amazon Studios, Makeready, Faliro House Productions
Rating
R
Genre
Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller, Romance
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 26, 2024
Runtime
1h 36m
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