Sometimes you just miss a director, and that’s how I feel about David Fincher. His last film was 2020’s Mank, and well, we’ve lived through a whole pandemic. It feels like decades since we’ve seen Fincher back in action. Now, he’s working with Netflix again (not on Mindhunter season 3—sorry, guys) on his new movie starring Michael Fassbender, The Killer. And if that doesn’t instantly have you excited for whatever it is that Fincher has in store for us, I don’t know what will.
A new teaser trailer dropped for The Killer which features Michael Fassbender in voice over: “Stick to your plan, trust no one. Stick to the plan, forbid empathy. Stick to the plan, anticipate. Don’t improvise. Stick to your plan, never yield an advantage. Stick to the plan, fight only the battle you’re paid to fight. Ask yourself ‘What’s in it for me?’ Stick to the plan, trust no one. Empathy is weakness, weakness is vulnerability. This is what it takes if you want to succeed. Simple.”
The plot of The Killer is described as follows: “After a fateful near-miss an assassin battles his employers, and himself, on an international manhunt he insists isn’t personal.” Honestly? That’s all I need! In fact, I was invested in this movie before I knew a single thing about it. I heard Michael Fassbender and David Fincher and needed no further information.
Why? Because I know that I can always trust David Fincher as a filmmaker. He has yet to do me wrong and The Killer looks right up my alley.
There’s nothing quite like a David Fincher movie
Few things hit like Fincher’s work. Whether it is the comfort I find in movies like Zodiac or the hold that The Social Network had on an entire generation, his work has staying power because Fincher knows how to keep an audience engaged and on the edge of their seats. For me, The Killer is so fascinating because it is Fincher back to what he does best. I enjoyed Mank, but it was a bit of a departure from the tone we’ve come to associate with Fincher and his work, and seeing him back in thriller territory has me excited for The Killer.
Somehow, Fincher has made the act or mystery of killing so fascinating that audiences can’t seem to get enough of it in his movies. He’s mastered the art of a “Scorpio” movie with Gone Girl and the vindictiveness of Amy Dunne. We were gifted iconic moments in Seven, like “what’s in the box?!” The point is that Fincher knows how to get audiences in seats, and the teaser trailer for The Killer has me hooked into whatever mystery Michael Fassbender is navigating.
Netflix is releasing The Killer in select theaters this October (exact date TBA), but if you can’t see it in theaters, don’t worry! Fincher’s latest hits Netflix on November 10—which also happens to be my birthday.
(featured image: Netflix)
