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Killer Heat
Killer Heat
	Release poster
Directed by	Philippe Lacôte
Screenplay by	Roberto Bentivegna; Matt Charman;
Based on	"The Jealousy Man"; by Jo Nesbø
Produced by	Brad Weston
Starring	Joseph Gordon-Levitt; Shailene Woodley; Richard Madden;
Cinematography	Andrew Dunn
Edited by	Jay Cassidy; Neil Smith;
Music by	Joseph Shirley
Production; companies	Amazon MGM Studios; Makeready; Faliro House;
Distributed by	Amazon Prime Video
Release date	September 26, 2024;
Running time	97 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Killer Heat is a 2024 American crime mystery drama film directed by Philippe Lacôte, and written by Roberto Bentivegna and Matt Charman. Based on Jo Nesbø's short story "The Jealousy Man", the film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, and Richard Madden.

On the sunny island of Crete, twin brothers (Madden) are caught in a violent love triangle. A damaged detective, Nick Bali, also known as "The Jealousy Man"^[relevant?] (Gordon-Levitt), is brought in to investigate the case.

The film was released by Amazon Prime Video on September 26, 2024.

Plot

Private detective Nick "The Jealousy Man"^[relevant?] Bali is secretly hired by Penelope Vardakis to investigate the death of her husband Elias' identical twin brother Leo. As the wealthy Vardakis family controls the police on the Greek island, she cannot get them to investigate the death, as officially it was a climbing accident. The family fears publicity could harm the value of their shipping company's stock.

Nick is haunted by memories of his daughter and his marriage gone horribly wrong, so he drinks excessively to block them out. He is allowed to see the coroner's documentation of Leo's injuries and is told officer Georges Mensah is in charge of the investigation. Nick visits Mensah pretending interest in Leo's life insurance claim but is rebuffed.

Finding the Vardakis family yacht, Nick observes Elias leaving, so follows him to a climbing spot at a cliff face pretending to be an investigator from the Greek National Intelligence Service looking into Leo's death. Elias warns him to stay clear of his mother Audrey. Nick convinces him to be interviewed over coffee.

To Nick's surprise, Elias insists he had not seen Leo for weeks, as they had a major argument explaining that their father had encouraged them to fight and compete with each other from a young age. When Elias receives notice that Nick is not with the INS, Elias abruptly leaves.

Nick approaches Mensah, who he saw conducting surveillance on them, and offers to team up. Once he comes clean, admitting he is a former NYPD detective turned Athens P.I., they share information. Penelope contacts him, warning him about speaking to the family directly.

Nick explains how his own obsessiveness has helped his P.I. work. He recalls the moment when he first experienced intense jealousy over his wife, which led to her cheating and their eventual split.

Penelope takes Nick to the cliff where Leo fell, and talks about meeting Leo and Elias; that she met Elias after Leo, as he started at Oxford a semester later; that Elias tricked her into believing Leo was coming over to study, but quickly talked her into a tryst; that they started seeing each other regularly; and that she met their parents and saw how overshadowed Leo was.

Penelope manages to get Nick proper clothes and an invitation to an exclusive political fundraiser hosted by the Vardakis family on their yacht. Approaching Audrey, he tries to get her to respond to allegations of foul play, but is thrown off the boat and ordered to leave the island. Mensah later tells him he cannot have more contact with him.

Undeterred, Nick follows Elias the next day, but gets beaten up when Elias' goon spots him. Mensah helps him, cleaning him up. In the morning Nick meets up with Penelope, who tells him the obsessed Elias would never let her leave him. He surprises her by asking about her affair with Leo, which he deduced when he found her hair tie at his place.

Mensah and Nick determine which boat was used when Leo was killed and its location. In an exchange of gunfire, two of the presumed killers go down, but a bullet also gets Mensah. Racked with guilt, Nick goes over the details of the case. Realising that the broken fingers on Leo's corpse were likely caused by someone stomping on them, rather than from the fall, he calls Penelope to send away their security, keep Elias there and wait.

Once Nick has Penelope, Elias and Audrey gathered, he reveals that the twin present is Leo. He caused Elias to fall from the cliff by stomping on his hand. A furious Audrey, realizing he killed her adored Elias, shoots Leo dead. Nick is about to fly off when an idea comes to him.

Returning to the Vardakis', Nick finds Penelope. She reveals that the plan had been for Leo to set her free, but he decided to take Elias' identity and also force her to stay. This is why Penelope had hired Nick, to expose Leo.

In the end, Penelope convinces Nick to return home for his daughter.

Cast

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Nick Bali
Shailene Woodley as Penelope Vardakis
Richard Madden as Leo and Elias Vardakis
Clare Holman as Audrey
Babou Ceesay as Georges Mensah
Abbey Lee as Monique

Production

The source material is Norwegian author Jo Nesbø's short story Sjalusimannen (English: The Jealousy Man), from his 2021 collection Sjalusimannen Og Andre Fortellinger (English: The Jealousy Man and Other Stories).^[2] The adapted screenplay was penned by Roberto Bentivegna with revisions by Matt Charman.^[2] Makeready's Brad Weston produced the film, with Faliro House serving as the local production entity. Joseph Gordon-Levitt executive produced alongside Nesbø, Niclas Salomonsson, Tom Karnowski and Makeready's Collin Creighton.Principal photography began in April 2023.^[3] Filming locations include the Greek island of Crete.^[2]

Release

The film was released by Amazon Prime Video on September 26, 2024.^[4]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 19% of 27 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "A modern noir utterly lacking in intrigue, Killer Heat is disappointingly lukewarm."^[5]