David Fincher's newest project for Netflix has undoubtedly got cinephiles buzzing. The Killer, starring Michael Fassbender, is a perfect piece of material for Fincher to adapt. It fits into the world of his filmography extremely well. Fassbender's narration is addicting to listen to, and yet he has very few lines of dialogue in the movie where he actually speaks. This neo-noir has some of the best fight scenes in recent memory. There is subtle information about the world around the film's main character, and it also pairs well with a handful of other movies.
The Killer (2023)
R
- Release Date
- November 10, 2023
- Director
- David Fincher
- Cast
- Michael Fassbender , Tilda Swinton , Kerry O'Malley , Charles Parnell , Lacey Dover , Monique Ganderton , Sala Baker
- Runtime
- 118 Minutes
- Main Genre
- Action
Fincher is in a category all his own, but he definitely draws from other works. All filmmakers are always watching other films to keep the wheels turning upstairs. Now there's no guarantee he watched any of the movies on this list. But they do make for a great double feature to pair with The Killer.
John Wick (2014)
John Wick
R
- Release Date
- October 22, 2014
- Director
- David Leitch , Chad Stahelski
- Cast
- Keanu Reeves , Adrianne Palicki , Willem Dafoe , Bridget Moynahan , Jason Isaacs , Alfie Allen
- Runtime
- 96
- Main Genre
- Thriller
The first installment in the John Wick franchise follows Keanu Reeves in the title role as a retired assassin who seems to be a man living a modest life of peace and quiet. However, once the love of his life has an untimely death, some crooks break into his home and attack him and kill his puppy. Wick is thrust back into the life of crime with vengeance on his mind.
Why We've Included John Wick
John Wick and The Killer may differ in their storytelling methods. John Wick is a film that gets you nostalgic about the action movies of the 1980s and 1990s, where a man who leaves a life of bloodshed behind is thrust back into action. Both films also have their protagonists motivated to kick some butt based on a special someone is harmed or even killed due to the villains' recklessness. And although The Killer is minimal in its fight scenes, that one scene does rival all the fighting in John Wick and the whole franchise.
Related: The Best Michael Fassbender Movies, Ranked
Targets (1968)
Targets is an early Peter Bogdanovich-directed film about a deranged Vietnam veteran (Tim O'Kelly) who goes on a killing spree. He murders his wife, mother, and many other random strangers via a sniper rifle. He decides to wreak havoc on a drive-in movie where an aging horror movie star named Byron Orlock (Boris Karloff) is making a promotional appearance. The two men get into a standoff with one another.
Why Targets Makes the List
This is a film that has developed a cult following over the years. There are so many great pieces to it that include direction from a young Bogdanovich, and seeing Karloff as an aging horror movie star feels super meta. Oddly, the sniper, whose character is named Bobby Thompson, is somewhat inspired by Charles Whitman, who was the man behind the University of Texas tower shooting in 1966. The Killer and Targets share a commonality, as they both seem like real portraits of a murderer, whether you're oddly rooting for them in their respective films or not.
Rent on Prime Video
Road to Perdition (2002)
Road to Perdition
R
- Release Date
- July 12, 2002
- Director
- Sam Mendes
- Cast
- Tom Hanks , Tyler Hoechlin , Rob Maxey , Paul Newman , Liam Aiken , Jude Law
- Runtime
- 117
- Main Genre
- Crime
Tom Hanks stars in the Sam Mendes crime drama, Road to Perdition. A tale about a mob hitman in 1930s Illinois (Hanks) whose son witnesses a murder. He then takes his son on the road to hide from his employers, where the two share a bond over revenge and redemption.
Why You Should Watch Road to Perdition
The Killer and Road to Perdition are both films that have their protagonists hitting the road a lot. Michael Fassbender goes from Paris to Florida on his journey of revenge. Tom Hanks takes his son on the roads of the Midwest, on the lam from the mob. These two great films are also both adaptations of highly regarded graphic novels. Lastly, like most movies on the list, they both take an honest look at men whose profession it is to kill people.
The Mechanic (1972)
The Mechanic is another great 1970s crime thriller that stars the king of the era in terms of kinds of films, Charles Bronson. He plays a middle-aged hitman who takes pride in his methods of making people's deaths look like accidents. Soon, his loneliness gets to him, and he ends up taking one of his victims' sons in as an apprentice. Tense moments ensue as his understudy learns the truth about who killed his father.
Why The Mechanic Is Included
With respect to the Jason Statham-starring remake, the original is where it is at. They truly don't make them like this anymore. The Mechanic is a brilliant study of a man who is at the end of his rope with his career as an assassin. The chemistry between the two leads in the film is unrivaled. It's a movie with great outbursts of action, beautiful locations, and a motorcycle chase that will have you hitting rewind on the climactic shot of the whole scene. This is one of Charles Bronson's finest films.
Stream on Prime Video
The Conversation (1974)
The Conversation
PG
- Release Date
- April 7, 1974
- Director
- Francis Ford Coppola
- Cast
- Gene Hackman , John Cazale , Allen Garfield , Frederic Forrest , Cindy Williams , Michael Higgins
- Runtime
- 113
- Main Genre
- Drama
The Conversation stars Gene Hackman as a surveillance expert by the name of Harry Caul. He is given an assignment to track a young couple through San Francisco. He manages to record a cryptic exchange between the two of them, which makes him obsessed. He tries to solve the mystery of whether the two people on the recording are actually in danger.
Why We've Included The Conversation
The Conversation is a testament to why Francis Ford Coppola is one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. At the Oscars that year, he had two films up for Best Picture: The Godfather Part II and The Conversation. Yes, Coppola beat one of his films with another one he made. There's no way David Fincher isn't a fan of the film. Hackman plays a very quiet man who is very in tune with his work, and he takes it all very seriously. And despite him not being a hired gun, his character traits slightly line up with Michael Fassbender's performance in The Killer.
Drive (2011)
Drive
R
- Release Date
- August 6, 2011
- Director
- Nicolas Winding Refn
- Cast
- Ryan Gosling , Carey Mulligan , Bryan Cranston , Albert Brooks , Oscar Isaac , Christina Hendricks
- Runtime
- 100
- Main Genre
- Crime
In Drive, Ryan Gosling plays a Hollywood stuntperson by day and a driver by night for robberies and other forms of organized crime in Nicolas Winding Refn's neon-soaked crime drama. Gosling's character goes by the name Driver, and when Driver falls for his neighbor, he ends up also getting tangled in a world of crime as the mob comes after the woman he loves and her son due to the mistakes of her child's father.
Why You Need to See Drive
Drive and The Killer feel like they match in tone and pace. There is a quiet, lo-fi feel to both films with the main characters' mission. Both Gosling and Fassbender's respective characters are very quiet in their films, not saying much, just doing the tasks they need to do. Both movies have the same kind of violence. You sense the tense tones of a scene, but you never know when the bloodshed is going to kick in. Lastly, both films soak up the cities they take place in. Drive with Los Angeles, and The Killer with almost every city it takes place in.
Rent on Prime Video
The Bourne Identity (2002)
The Bourne Identity
PG-13
- Release Date
- June 14, 2002
- Director
- Doug Liman
- Cast
- Matt Damon , Franka Potente , Chris Cooper , Clive Owen , Brian Cox , Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
- Runtime
- 111
- Main Genre
- Action
The Bourne Identity is the first in a massive espionage franchise. Based on the Robert Ludlum series of novels, the film follows an amnesiac CIA operative who tries to remember who he is while a sea of assassins are out to kill him. He goes on the lam throughout Europe from his with pursuers.
Why The Bourne Identity Makes the List
Jason Bourne has become an iconic character in action movies, especially thanks to the performance of Matt Damon. Who, at the time it was released, made for a strange casting choice. Since then, it has become one of the best roles in his filmography. Both The Bourne Identity and The Killer feel like an ode to European espionage and action films of the 1960s and 1970s. Bourne has one of the best mini-cooper car chases ever, and it feels reminiscent of an era of movies like that. Both films are also about unraveling a big mystery for the films' leads. Something with a heavy payoff at their climax.
Related: The Bourne Identity: Where the Cast Is Today
Panic Room (2002)
Panic Room
R
- Release Date
- March 29, 2002
- Director
- David Fincher
- Cast
- Jodie Foster , Kristen Stewart , Forest Whitaker , Dwight Yoakam , Jared Leto , Patrick Bauchau
- Runtime
- 112
- Main Genre
- Crime
Panic Room takes place predominantly in a New York brownstone apartment, where Meg (Jodie Foster) and her daughter Sarah (Kristen Stewart) take refuge in a hidden fortress within their home called a panic room. It's there just in case of a break-in; they can hide. As three intruders break into the building, the mother and daughter must now play a game of cat and mouse with the intruders in order to survive.
Why Panic Room Is a Must-Watch
This is the only other David Fincher film you would want on this list. Panic Room is a lesser-known Fincher film, but it is definitely underrated. It feels like a high concept; more adult take on Home Alone, if you think about it. But in comparison to The Killer, both movies show Fincher's knack for making a tense and claustrophobic atmosphere appealing to his audiences. And sequences that make one's palms sweaty during them. And leaves you in dire need to catch your breath once they are over.
Rent on Prime Video
Leon: The Professional (1994)
Leon: The Professional
R
- Release Date
- November 18, 1994
- Director
- Luc Besson
- Cast
- Jean Reno , Gary Oldman , Natalie Portman , Danny Aiello
- Runtime
- 1hr 51min
- Main Genre
- Action
Luc Besson directed this action thriller, Leon: The Professional, which stars Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, and a breakout performance by 12-year-old Natalie Portman. Portman plays Mathilda, a pre-teen who knows the darker sides of life with her dad being a drug dealer. Oldman plays a crooked DEA agent who murders her family. Reno plays Leon, the man who lives down the hall and just so happens to be an assassin. Mathilda enlists the help of Leon for revenge against her family.
Why We've Included Leon: The Professional
This highly stylized action film is a staple of the 1990s world of cinema. Oldman plays one of the best villains of all time, and you can't wait to get his comeuppance. Jean Reno's performance is the best of his character. He would go on to play many other supporting roles throughout his career, but The Professional is still his most iconic role to date. And this was the film that made Natalie Portman an utter star before she could even drive a car. Both this and The Killer are slick, stylish, and violent, and they get you into the methodical minds of their protagonists.
Le Samourai (1967)
Le Samourai is Jean Pierre-Melville's classic meditation on crime and murder, centers around a methodical, routine-driven hitman named Jef Costello. When the killing of a nightclub owner has a witness attached to it, Jef goes from being a hunter to prey from the police and crime bosses.
Why You Should Definitely Check Out Le Samourai
Either it is the crafting of the graphic novel or Fincher's film knowledge in general, Le Samourai and The Killer feel like the ultimate double feature. In tone and in plot, even about a killer's failed mission that has him go from on the run to taking the fight to those who now pursue him. Some even say The Killer doesn't exist without Le Samourai. Even down to some of the wardrobe choices, with Costello and Killer both wearing smilliar hats. Lastly, David Fincher has even mentioned this movie as one of the biggest and most obvious references to his film. It's a film that defines the hitman genre in movies.
