David Fincher’s new Netflix thriller feature “The Killer,” starring Michael Fassbender, premiered at the Venice Film Festival where it earned nearly seven minutes of applause on Sunday evening.
Fincher himself was in attendance but without his main cast as the film is a Netflix production and thus doesn’t qualify for a SAG interim agreement.
Fassbender plays an assassin who battles his employers, and his own doubts, on an international manhunt while insisting none of it is personal. Charles Parnell, Arliss Howard, Sophie Charlotte, and Tilda Swinton also star.
With 18 reviews counted, the film sits at an 89% (7.7/10) on Rotten Tomatoes. Here’s a sampling of review quotes:
“This being a David Fincher joint, the answers aren’t pretty, while the images are nearly always sublime.” – Ben Croll, The Wrap
“This is a thriller of pure surface and style and managed with terrific flair and Fassbender’s careworn, inscrutable face is just right for it.” – Peter Bradshaw, Guardian
“A competently realized crime thriller made by a technical team just as sharply attuned to details as the director at the ship’s helm, the Netflix production is entertaining but a little orthodox.” – Rafaela Sales Ross, The Playlist
“For all the inherent familiarity of the hit-man genre, Fincher and Walker have nonetheless crafted an absorbing tale; what it has to offer that’s any different from countless similar tales lies in the minutiae rather than the mayhem.” – Alonso Duralde, The Film Verdict
“It’s not exactly an ambitious plotline for someone like Fincher, but it’s certainly an engaging one, and the cryptic, constantly evasive protagonist is a puzzle that lingers after the credits roll.” – Hannah Strong, Little White Lies
“There’s a thin line between self-reflection and self-parody, and The Killer comes dangerously close to crossing it a few too many times.” – Bilge Ebiri, Vulture
“A few moments in the film do get the blood up, but otherwise The Killer is curiously inert, its wheels spinning with little traction.” – Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair
“The Killer” will release in select theaters in October ahead of its Netflix streaming premiere on November 10th.
