David Fincher and his favorite subject: killers. In The Killer on Netflix, the Zodiac – The Trail of the Killer director reinvents the job of the contract killer. Even if The Killer portrays the job very differently than, for example, Keanu Reeves in John Wick, it is endlessly exciting.
That’s what the Netflix thriller The Killer is about
The titular killer (Michael Fassbender) is on a job in Paris. He sets his sights on his target, pulls the trigger and accidentally hits the target’s dominatrix. He must now leave his whereabouts immediately. As if this misstep wasn’t enough, he is now the target. His clients want revenge. And as the saying goes? Attack is the best defense.
The killer is both the hunter and the hunted. He travels across the world to shake off his pursuers or to track down and kill them. After the faux pas in Paris, he flies to the Dominican Republic, where he lives with his girlfriend in a remote villa. When he gets there, he finds a bloodbath. His girlfriend is still alive, but seriously injured. He realizes that his faux pas will not be forgiven so easily.
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This assassin is newer, better and more beautiful
In the 2023 film, Michael Fassbender embodies a contract killer who initially has all the usual characteristics: loner, multi-talented and emotional coldness. It is the myth of the modern contract killer, who has to be that way because of his job. Every trusted person and every unlearned skill is a risk that would mean either arrest or death.
But the killer is significantly less mythically charged than the synopsis suggests. There is humanity in Michael Fassbender. He separates himself from the toxic masculine ideals of a killer, follows strict rules of behavior and rides an e-scooter. This killer is modern and still arrested with the discipline of a typical contract killer.
The Killer hunts his clients station by station – and each has its own dynamic. From the law office in New Orleans to the swamps of Florida, the all-rounder needs his entire bag of tricks. And it has it all.
In this respect, The Killer does everything right. We don’t see any mythical exaggerations like in Hitman or John Wick here, because The Killer is, above all, really good craftsmanship.
You can find more tips in the podcast: The best streaming films of the year
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David Fincher dedicates himself to the contract killer with a realism that can completely question the myth of the untouchable contract killer. Is this job, as it has been portrayed for decades, actually realistic? John Wick already raises this question: It is so overloaded with mythical inviolability that it can only be understood as fiction. John Wick is brutal action cinema. The Killer, on the other hand, is something for lovers of good craftsmanship.
The Killer is streaming on Netflix.