The Killer Review: It’s Just a Day Job

With style so consistent, and so vivid, it feels devastating to want for substance. Director David Fincher’s (Fight Club, Gone Girl) latest picture is a loose adaptation of a French graphic novel, The Killer, by Luc Jacamon and Matz. Michael Fassbender (Shame, X-Men: First Class) stars as the titular character, The Killer. After an assassination attempt goes awry, The Killer retreats to his home in the Dominican Republic. Unbeknownst to him, the people he works with send other killers after him. Unfortunately, his girlfriend Magdala (Sophie Charlotte) is there instead. After she is roughed up The Killer goes after everybody responsible for her hospitalization.

The story isn’t a one-for-one adaptation of the original graphic novel, seemingly taking the general feel of the book and creating a different story. However, the first act of the movie does mirror part of the first issue of the graphic novel. This is reflected in most of the film’s problems, as The Killer is mostly style over substance. Everything feels cool – in line with the rest of Fincher’s filmography – but if you’re watching for a fantastic story, this isn’t necessarily the movie for you. While it lacks a large overarching plot, it does have compact set pieces that are beautifully executed. 

The Monotony of The Killer

The Killer begins with Fassbender’s character getting ready for a target who will appear through a hotel window across the street from his location. His voiceover begins here and continues throughout the majority of the movie. As his journey is mostly a solitary one, The Killer would have been closer to a silent film without the voiceover, and it is a much-needed injection of his personality as well. Fassbender is excellent, perfectly portraying how single-minded his character wishes to be, how his anxiety and nerves get in his way, and how he looks down on others. 

With that being said, his non-verbal performance is also stellar. We know exactly what’s going on in his mind behind his eyes and with every twitch in his facial expression. His voiceover and physical movement work in tandem to make you believe in his character. Part of his charm is how he’s just a regular guy who happens to be a hitman. So, when he describes what makes up the first period of his job – the waiting, the monotony – it’s funny. He’s waiting for his target to show up like the clerk waiting for a customer to serve in an empty store.

The movie is funnier than you might expect it to be. A running gag had me laughing every instance it appeared. But, there are also just some observations that The Killer makes that might tickle you as well. Things like how he manages to enter certain buildings easily or camp out in them for as long as he does. Or how when he needs to make sure he isn’t seen he just leans in his car or turns his face. 

The Vibes Are Immaculate 

Right from the start, with the usual stylized credits of a Fincher film, and when the Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross score kicks in, it’s clear that you’re going to be in for a good time. The atmosphere is like a party, it’ll go on for a while and you’ll enjoy yourself, but you probably won’t be able to remember much the next day. The Killer weaves between monotony and tension, occasionally making the boring tense and the tense boring. But, the result of this is not much of a payoff. The story ends with little to no resolution. 

While the film does create tension, it’s clear that The Killer is clearly feeling that as well. This is achieved by the score and the soundtrack which includes tracks from “The Smiths”. We hear the music as it plays diegetically, muting his surroundings and amplifying the noises coming from his earphones, drowning out his mind, but boosting his anxiety. Of course, the set pieces and action sequences don’t hold back either. The Killer’s fight with The Brute (Sala Baker) is epic and extremely violent. Seeing his boring setup of a job contrasted with The Killer being thrown through pieces of furniture is a highlight. 

Although, all the deaths in the movie are very well done. Commenting on how most of them occur might spoil it too much, but they are violent, and they also complement the film’s atmosphere. The murders are varied enough were they never get boring, although the setup for how The Killer gets to his target is almost always more interesting than the kill itself. The same goes for how he cleans up after himself once he has performed his hit. 

Where Do We End Up?

One of the others that The Killer hunts is The Expert, played by Tilda Swinton (Snowpiercer, Michael Clayton). Unlike Fassbender’s character, The Expert is quite chatty when confronted, played perfectly to try and throw The Killer off of his game. Even though she isn’t in the movie for very long, their scenes are a standout when it comes to performance. 

The cinematography is also phenomenal, with the frame disturbed by The Killer’s scope, and with most scenes forcing the audiences to feel boxed in. The cinematographer for the movie was Erik Messerschmidt, who also worked with Fincher on Mank (for which he won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography) and Mindhunter, as well as with Michael Mann on Ferrari. Fincher managed to pull together all the elements of film style to knock it out of the park, it’s just a shame that the story isn’t as well-crafted.

The Killer is being released by Netflix so it is in limited release in theaters from October 27, 2023, before coming to the streaming platform two weeks later on November 10. If you like David Fincher movies – The Killer is probably closer to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo than any of his other films – head to the theater to watch this. It will undoubtedly be better with a superior sound system and screen. If you are a fan of thrillers, this is a must-watch for you. But, if you’re not, you can see if you like The Killer yourself when it comes to Netflix.