The Killer
Netflix | Release Date: October 27, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
73
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 59 Critic Reviews
Positive:
44
Mixed:
14
Negative:
1

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The New YorkerAnthony LaneOct 27, 2023
Despite the shafts of black comedy, and a sudden ruckus of violence, The Killer is oddly calculated and cooked up; it’s easier to be excited and amused by the proceedings than to be stirred or convinced. Read full review
60
Rolling StoneMarlow SternSep 4, 2023
The Killer is slickly directed and propulsive — this is a Fincher film, after all—amplified by an eerie electronic soundtrack from regular collaborators Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Read full review
60
CineVueJohn BleasdaleSep 4, 2023
Few American directors capture the contemporary urban nightscape as well as Fincher: a supreme genre filmmaker, which makes this perfectly fine film so disappointing. Read full review
60
The IndependentGeoffrey MacnabSep 4, 2023
The filmmaker always shows the same painstaking attention to detail as his homicidal hero does to the logistics of murdering his adversaries. Fassbender is well cast and gives a typically committed performance – one leavened by moments of very deadpan humour. However. The Killer also often drifts into the realm of self-conscious pastiche. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriSep 3, 2023
Filled with expertly composed sequences undone by the protagonist’s relentless observations about the meaninglessness of existence, the movie feels like an attempt to highlight its own emptiness. Read full review
60
The Film VerdictAlonso DuraldeSep 3, 2023
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. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyMaureen Lee LenkerNov 10, 2023
Fincher is adept at excoriating the darkness of the human soul, but he's missed his mark with a character so blindly determined to prove he doesn't have one. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubBrent SimonOct 27, 2023
As The Killer moves through its nearly two-hour runtime, the vapor-high of a tightly choreographed opening sequence and the undeniable pleasure of being comfortably cradled in the hands of a master craftsman give way to a wandering mind. Read full review
55
PolygonSiddhant AdlakhaSep 14, 2023
What’s especially strange about The Killer is that Fincher achieves almost everything he sets out to, but he sets that bar dispiritingly low. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla DargisNov 9, 2023
The character is boring and so is this movie, but like the supremely skilled Fincher, who can’t help but make images that hold your gaze even as your mind wanders, Fassbender does keep you watching. Read full review
50
ColliderEmma KielyOct 5, 2023
If The Killer teaches us anything, it’s that any director, no matter how legendary they are, can fall victim to a bad script. While Fincher’s iconic style permeates the two-hour runtime, the hollow plot and uninspired writing are impossible to ignore. Read full review
50
Vanity FairRichard LawsonSep 3, 2023
The Killer is an experiment in economy whose results are lesser than the effort put in. Calculating efficiency is all well and good, but at least some life is required to make meaning of all of this killing. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalKyle SmithOct 27, 2023
I dearly wished someone from Wick-land would emerge to take out this self-aggrandizing dunce. Read full review
40
BBCNicholas BarberSep 3, 2023
On one level, I realise, the dullness is the point. . . But I'm not sure that justifies the film's own efficiently plodding approach because it never seems as if Fincher is giving us the inside track on how assassins actually operate. Read full review
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