Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley deserve far better than Killer Heat. The title might sound like some late night Skinemax flick from the ’90s or a bad USA Network series, but this undercooked thriller, an adaptation of a short story by popular Norwegian crime author Jo Nesbø, is too painfully slow, dull, and devoid of said heat. This despite three stunning leads, including Game of Thrones‘ Richard Madden, a gorgeous locale on the isle of Crete, and a murder mystery involving twin billionaires, one who has plunged to his death from atop a mountain. All of the ingredients are there, and yet everything goes wrong.
Gordon-Levitt, as great of an actor as he often is, just as often sleepwalks when given mediocre material to contend with. Such is the case here, as his troubled, alcoholic detective Nick Bali is ordinary for this genre. He’s been hired by Penelope Vardakis (Shailene Woodley, who worked with JGL on Snowden, another boring dud) to investigate the suspicious death of her brother-in-law Leo, who fell while mountain climbing. Even though the Vardakis family is wealthy, powerful, and feared throughout the Greek island, the list of suspects is shockingly small, with Leo’s brother and Penelope’s husband Elias top of the list.
The rote investigation unfolds like an episode of a quickly-canceled procedural on CBS. Nick trudges from one bland interrogation to another, enduring the anticipated threats of violence from Elias, dragging in a local detective (Babou Ceesay) who knows the Vardakis’ dangerous ways, and scheming with Penelope who may or may not be mixed up in all of this. There’s nothing that this film does that we haven’t seen a thousand times before in better, more exciting crime thrillers. Even the “twist” ending is predictable, and would’ve been when Nesbø first published The Jealousy Man in 2021. Andrew Dunn’s cinematography does justice to the gorgeous natural scenery, but it can’t hide the film’s low-rent presentation.
It’s been a long time since Gordon-Levitt turned film noir on its head in Rian Johnson’s Brick. His erstwhile teen detective in that film was a lot more interesting than Nick, who we see as a jealous husband to a cheating wife (played by an underused Abbey Lee). The film parallels Nick’s jealousy and his eventual abandonment of his family with the Ladeki family, but neither he nor any of them break from the confines of stereotype. Woodley does solid work as a potential femme fatale, backing it with the desperation of a woman who doesn’t have anyone she can truly trust. And I’m sure I’ve said this before, but Madden is a black hole from which no charisma can escape. His performance here doesn’t change my mind on that, and being asked to play a dual role only exacerbates the issue.
Nesbø’s books have been adapted multiple times, with 2011’s Headhunters a propulsive blast of dark energy and easily the best of them all. Unfortunately, Killer Heat falls into the same forgettable territory as The Snowman. These are unremarkable adaptations at a time when the mystery genre is in a renaissance, so pick something else to watch from the comfort of home.
Killer Heat is streaming on Prime Video now.
