If you were ever curious about how a killer thinks, David Fincher’s latest film, The Killer (2023), offers a solid glimpse into the psychology of this profession. Professions are either chosen out of necessity or out of vocation. Fincher asks the question; can it be that the path of a killer is chosen out of vocation? Or is it out of one’s unquenchable need to kill?
Obviously, we are talking about sociopaths here. Murderers are usually sociopaths. But not everyone kills for pleasure. Others do it to make money. That is the kind of person that David Fincher’s film is about. Can someone who wants to make money out of killing take pleasure in opening a hole in a someone’s head?
We do not know the name of “The Killer” (played by Michael Fassbender). We see him in action and hear him tell us his philosophy. “Empathy is weakness. Weakness is vulnerability. Stick to your plan. Anticipate, don’t improvise. Trust no one.” Basically, this is a man who cannot afford to feel. On one hand, our killer has no doubts about his professionalism, moreover, he has clearly developed values, but on the other hand, it is as if we can feel that he is trying to convince himself that his words are the truth. It is as if, by repeating the same thing to himself, he could make himself believe them.
According to the killer himself, he never makes mistakes because he follows the rules. But sometimes even he can’t control his own heart. And so, he makes a mistake.
Another inconsistency in his philosophy is his relationship with his girlfriend. First and foremost, the mere fact that he has a life partner shows that the killer is not insensitive. His mistake leads to the woman being abused. Then the killer, suffering from his woman’s pain and seeking revenge, sets out in pursuit of her attackers.
At first, he is driven by anger. By indiscriminately destroying everyone in his path, he pursues his goal; to find the culprit, to punish all those who contributed to the crime. It doesn’t matter if there are innocent people to be killed. “Empathy is weakness. Weakness is vulnerability.” In the world of fiction, this motivation for action is called “the quest”, which means that the protagonist has a task to perform, he is pursuing something, and this drives the plot forward. However, David Fincher would not be such a famous director if his stories did not involve moral dilemmas.
It is the moral dilemma; whether it is conscience or the words of other characters that make you doubt yourself, that causes the problems to our killer. He no longer believes in his philosophy and the meaningfulness of his work. Money used to be the meaning of such work, however, gradually it is no longer significant, because the killer enough. At the very beginning of the film, he confidently states that he is only doing so well because “he does not care”. He doesn’t care who dies, how they die, that he is the one to blame for their deaths. And yet, when the film reaches its climax, his decision comes out unexpected and contradictory. A crisis befalls the killer’s soul; he suddenly has both a voice of conscience and a deep-seated habit of killing. Or is his conscience just an experiment?
The main conflict of the narrative is internal, and the way the film unfolds is like a technical description of how to kill a person. Nevertheless, this does not mean that the narrative is superficial. The technical side of assassination only adds to the impression of the killer’s words, and Fassbender’s emotionless face creates a vivid character who stands out not because of his fierceness, but because of his cold-blooded way of shooting a man without blinking. This contradiction between what we see and what we hear therefore creates an even greater effect, because the remorse that begins to plague the killer appears not in visual expressions or actions, but in the character’s inner monologue. The colors of the film are dark, there are a lot of shadows and slow burn, except for one fight scene, which creates a somber but tranquil mood.
The film is based on the French comic book with the same name and, in addition to its moral dilemmas, it also reflects the modern consumer society, because our hero is a modern man; he uses a smartwatch, modern delivery options, eats fast food, has unrestricted freedom of movement, and is like any other person in our modern world. This modern killer has no name and, like all consumers, sometimes feels remorse, but consumption is always stronger.
To sum up, the film can be described as an innovative film noir, with no lack of precision and a coherent, straightforward plot, which has a clear structure and objectives, which are professionally achieved.
