A quiet, razor-sharp thriller hiding in Netflix’s catalog, The Killer is directed by David Fincher, the mind behind Zodiac and Gone Girl. Michael Fassbender plays a precision-obsessed assassin, a killer with no name, only method and madness, while Tilda Swinton enters as an enigmatic, lethal mirror. It’s a film where control becomes fixation, humanity drains away, and silence does most of the damage.
Acclaimed at the 80th Venice International Film Festival in 2023 and nominated for several international awards, The Killer confirms Fincher’s visual mastery and razor-sharp storytelling. Here’s everything you need to know about The Killer: from the plot to the cast, from reviews to the release date. The trailer is at the end of the article.
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The Killer: all the key details
- Title: The Killer
- Format: Feature film
- Running time: 118 minutes
- Genre: Psychological thriller
- Country of production: USA
- Director: David Fincher
- Main cast: Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton, Charles Parnell, Arliss Howard
- Production: Netflix, Plan B Entertainment
What The Killer is about
In a Paris apartment, a hired killer known only by a code name spends hours waiting: yoga, music, sniper reflex drills and a meticulous discipline that borders on ritual. When the target finally appears, fate — and an unexpected distraction — turn the hit into a tragedy. From there begins a global manhunt in which the protagonist finds himself not only hunted by his own employers, but also forced to confront his mechanical existence and the meaning of a profession devoid of empathy.
David Fincher builds a cerebral, hypnotic thriller in which every gesture becomes an act of control and every pause an abyss of tension. Action gives way to the precision of movements, to silence and to time stretched out, turning violence into a form of introspection.
Who directed The Killer
David Fincher, born in 1962, is one of the masters of contemporary cinema. After breaking through with Seven (1995) and Fight Club (1999), he has directed some of the most influential films of the last thirty years, including Zodiac (2007), The Social Network (2010, winner of 3 Oscars), Gone Girl (2014) and the series Mindhunter (Netflix, 2017–2019). With The Killer, he returns to his fascination with control and the criminal mind, blending surgical aesthetics with psychological tension.
Main cast and characters
Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave, X-Men: First Class, Oscar nominee in 2014 for 12 Years a Slave) plays the killer, a methodical, silent man obsessed with control and discipline. His balance shatters when a mistake forces him to face vulnerability and the loss of control.
Tilda Swinton (Doctor Strange, Michael Clayton, 2008 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for Michael Clayton) is the intermediary, an enigmatic, cultured figure who embodies the most sophisticated and ruthless side of the criminal underworld. Their exchange is one of the most tense and finely crafted moments in the film.
Charles Parnell (Top Gun: Maverick) plays attorney Hodges, a symbol of the moral corruption of a system built on compromise. Arliss Howard (Full Metal Jacket, Mank) portrays a ruthless client tied to the protagonist’s fate. Rounding out the cast are Sophie Charlotte (Rio Eu Te Amo) and Kerry O’Malley (Snowpiercer), in roles that lend the film a more intimate, domestic dimension.
Is it based on a true story?
No, The Killer is not based on a true story. The film is adapted from the French graphic novel of the same name by Alexis Nolent (aka Matz), illustrated by Luc Jacamon and published between 1998 and 2017. Fincher acquired the rights more than ten years ago, creating an adaptation that is faithful in spirit but stripped-down and modernized in form.
What critics say about The Killer
Premiering in competition at the 2023 Venice International Film Festival, The Killer won over audiences and critics with its icy elegance and the meticulous direction of David Fincher. Many reviewers noted how the film feels like a kind of return to form for the director of Seven and Zodiac, but with an even more detached, contemplative gaze.
Variety described it as “a surgical study of violence and obsession,” while The Guardian called it “a magnetic, ruthless exercise in style, where silence weighs more than blood.” The Hollywood Reporter also praised Michael Fassbender’s performance, calling it “a mechanically precise turn that is both human and inhuman.”
Many have hailed The Killer as one of Fincher’s most lucid and cohesive works: a film that, beneath its apparent coldness, hides a merciless portrait of today’s obsession with efficiency and control.
If you liked The Killer…
If you enjoyed The Killer, Netflix also offers other titles that share its tone, themes, or atmosphere: Mindhunter, Fincher’s cult series about the psychological profiling of serial killers; Zodiac, another obsessive, painstaking thriller from the same director; and Nightcrawler, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, which explores the warped morality of ambition. Different stories, united by surgical precision and an undercurrent of unease.
When it comes out on Netflix
Now streaming on Netflix. Release date: November 10, 2023. WATCH THE KILLER ON NETFLIX
Trailer
Here’s the official trailer to give you a feel for the atmosphere.
