Early Buzz For David Fincher's The Killer Praises A Slick, Slow-Burn Hitman Thriller

A master of his craft renowned for his clinical, methodical technique suddenly finds himself in a precarious position. But before we get to David Fincher, let's talk about his new film, "The Killer."

Based on the French graphic novel series of the same name by writer Alexis Nolent and illustrator Luc Jacamon, "The Killer" is the first feature film Fincher has directed since 2020's Oscar-winning "Mank" and only his third in the last 10 years. That's partly due to him being busy helming multiple episodes of Netflix's acclaimed serial killer drama "Mindhunter," as well as producing and occasionally directing the streamer's (also well-received) animated anthology series "Love, Death & Robots." Still, it's just not the same as consistently having a new Fincher film every few years as we did in the 1990s and 2000s.

Maybe that's why the crowd was particularly enthusiastic during his new film's world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival. According to Variety, "The Killer" received a five-minute standing ovation following its screening on Sunday, September 4, 2023. Fincher, however, was apparently unfamiliar with this Venice tradition — one that, like virtually every other aspect of the annual film awards season, has become something of a contest in its own right (much to our collective disgruntlement and bemusement here at /Film). Per Variety:

As the audience clapped for him, he uncomfortably shifted on his feet and flailed his hands in the air and mouthed: "What is this?" A producer led him down the stairs from his balcony seat to meet fans, but Fincher thought he was leaving the theater. He then walked back up the stairs and continued to uncomfortably stand in front of the cheering crowds until he finally was able to exit.

Critics, meanwhile, are also applauding "The Killer," albeit much more figuratively.

If "The Killer," a neo-noir thriller about a highly structured assassin (Michael Fassbender) in a fight for his life, reads like a perfect match for the mind behind "Se7en" and "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo," it apparently plays that way, too. Reviewing the film for The Irish Times, Donald Clarke wrote, "'The Killer' allows [Fincher] to exercise his own perfectionist instincts in a raw entertainment that makes a virtue of its emotional distance." The Hollywood Reporter's Leslie Felperin concurred, referring to the film as "an anti-Bond, anti-super-cool-assassin film, an exercise in subverting expectations." 

The titular role (said in the voice of Beanie Feldstein) is also described as fitting Fassbender like a glove. To quote The Playlist's Rafaela Sales Ross, "It's a role perfectly written for the 'Shame' actor, who features in virtually every single scene of Fincher's latest in sequences that go from entire days in vigilant silence to a rigorously choreographed fight scene in the house of a thug fittingly named The Brute (Sala Baker)." Stephanie Zacharek was also full of praise for Fincher's leading man, writing for Time, "Even just watching Fassbender walk is a pleasure: he has a lanky, feline stride — it's hard to imagine he could pass unnoticed on the street, even disguised as a neat but boringly dressed German tourist, but no matter."

It's almost surprising Fincher and Fassbender haven't worked together before now, given their similar creative sensibilities. (One might even say they gave us all the clues.) Perhaps they were waiting for the right project to present itself. As Peter Bradshaw put it in his five-star review for The Guardian, "This is a thriller of pure surface and style and managed with terrific flair and Fassbender's careworn, inscrutable face is just right for it."

Reading over the early reviews for "The Killer," you may notice there's a lot more praise going to the film's style than its plot. That and Fincher and his "Se7en" writer Andrew Kevin Walker apparently repeat a lot of what other filmmakers have done before them, including themselves. In a review for Vanity Fair, Richard Lawson noted "The Killer" recycles the bit from "Fight Club" of having its protagonist constantly monologue internally about "the banal trappings of quotidian American life. But the gag feels stale this time around; its references need an update." Bilge Ebiri goes a step further in his review for Vulture, writing that the film is mostly about Fassbender's philosophical hitman "explaining to us in voiceover, somewhat endlessly, his approach to life. To the point of absurdity."

However, it appears that lack of innovation isn't a deal-breaker for most critics. In the words of Little White Lies' Hannah Strong, "The Killer" is "not exactly an ambitious plotline for someone like Fincher, but it's certainly an engaging one, and the cryptic, constantly evasive protagonist is a puzzle that lingers after the credits roll." Alonso Duralde expressed a similar sentiment in his review for The Film Verdict, writing, "For all the inherent familiarity of the hit-man genre, Fincher and Walker have nonetheless crafted an absorbing tale; what it has to offer that's any different from countless similar tales lies in the minutiae rather than the mayhem."

While it doesn't necessarily sound like "The Killer" has the potential to become a major contender in this year's awards race, it may yet be received as a perfectly worthwhile "vibes" film. If that spares him from any more standing ovations, one imagines Fincher would be perfectly happy with that outcome.

"The Killer" will play in select theaters starting October 27, 2023, prior to hitting Netflix on November 10, 2023.