The Killer (2023)

Enjoyable Thriller - The Killer review by GI

Slow burning, stylish noir thriller with Michael Fassbender as a samurai like assassin forced onto a journey of revenge when a 'hit' goes wrong. Cold and professional hitmen litter the cinematic world from Alain Delon in Le Samourï (1967) to Tom Cruise in Collateral (2004) and here we have a philosophical killer who narrates his life all the while trying to convince himself he's not breaking his own rules. The film starts quite slowly with the assassin holed up in an office with a sniper rifle patiently waiting for his target to appear. When, despite all his careful preparations, the job goes suddenly awry he finds he becomes the target and he calmly and ruthlessly tracks down everyone involved, globe trotting from Paris to the Dominican Republic to USA in order to do so. There's some brutal violence along the way. It's all totally absurd but strangely compelling basically because Fassbender and director David Fincher approach the film with absolute conviction and create a certain disquiet as we follow the killer on his mission. And the great Tilda Swinton supports and consequently it makes for a rather enjoyable experience.