‘Killer Heat’ Prime Video Movie Review - Same Old Tale

Killer Heat is about a private investigator Nick Bali, who's Greek-American and has been called to a beautiful Greek island to investigate a recent death. Leo Vardakis died while rock climbing and since he belonged to a powerful family, the death was labeled as an accident so that the prices of the stocks don't fluctuate. The circumstances of death were suspicious as he had been climbing rocks bare-handed, without any rope since his childhood. Penelope, Elias’s wife (twin brother of Leo) calls Bali to the island and wants him to investigate the murder. She didn't want anyone to know who called the private investigator and her name to be revealed.

Bali accepted the job even though it was his first murder mystery because he had to keep his demons busy. There are two narratives running parallelly. The first one is about Bali investigating Leo's death and the second is about his past life and why he preferred drinking till he blacked out. There's a lot of things that went wrong with the show. Various elements like the family's dealings and other shady businesses could've been used to make the plot interesting. Rather, the ending seems to be written in a hurry and doesn't leave a good impression. The premise built for the mystery doesn’t match the result.

With the cast ensemble Killer Heat has, it's difficult to understand why the makers chose a mediocre plot. We're talking about a high-profile murder here and when the mystery is resolved, there's no element of surprise felt. Talking about the time taken for the final countdown to begin, it's quite long. The hired private investigator didn't find any major clues and wasn't certain about the killer until the last 20 to 25 minutes changed the turn of events. The first hour of this movie has been wasted and it's in the last third part of it that the makers remember to get to the point. Based upon a short story, The Jealousy Man by Jo Nesbo, the screen adaptation is a huge disappointment. I am positive that it might have been better on paper than onscreen. The murder mystery in the Killer Heat is set up on a breathtaking Greek island which is the main highlight of this 90-minute film. It's the only part that's worth watching.

I'm hugely disappointed by the work presented by Joseph Gordon Levitt, Shailene Woodley, and Richard Madden. Their characters felt dead onscreen and when it comes to Woodley’s character Penelope, she gave away too many hints which isn't the sign of a clever murder mystery. Penelope being the central key to the investigation seemed doubtful from the start however I didn't imagine that she'd dig her own grave. Woodley lacked conviction in her acting and most of the scenes had that straight face. Gordon Levitt comparatively did a decent job yet couldn't match the aura of a P.I. In all, the film is a poor one and the fans of murder mystery genre will find it bland. To begin with, there wasn't much to investigate in the case and the unnecessary twists pile up as a headache for the audience.

Final Score – [4/10]
Reviewed by - Riya Singh
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Publisher at Midgard Times