‘The Killer’: David Fincher & Michael Fassbender on Avoiding ‘Assassin Movie Tropes’

In psychological thrillers like Se7en (1995) and Zodiac (2007), director David Fincher chronicled investigators doggedly pursuing serial killers. In The Killer, debuting on Friday, November 10 on Netflix, he flips the script and gives audiences access to the mind of a murderer—who turns out to be equally determined.

“You are inside this guy’s head,” said Fincher, a three-time Oscar nominee, about the nameless central character. The twist is that the hired assassin (Michael Fassbender of 12 Years a Slave and Steve Jobs) expresses—in intimate voiceover—insight into his mindset and the credos he lives by. If you don’t like waiting around, he jokes, this job is probably too tedious for you. “Stick to your plan. Anticipate, don’t improvise,” he intones. “Trust no one. Fight only the battle you’re paid to fight.”

But viewers glimpse how his codes conflict, at times, with his behavior. “If you tapped into [a killer’s] thoughts, how do they reconcile what they do with what they believe?” Fincher said. “How honest is their introspection?”

Inspired by an acclaimed French graphic novel series, the film follows the yoga-loving hitman, whose latest job goes awry, leading him to become entangled in a global manhunt. His control-freak existence is upended, and his icy, detached demeanor gets tested, as he tracks the adversaries out to destroy him. While he travels from France to the Dominican Republic to the U.S., viewers meet his handler (Charles Parnell), his girlfriend (Sophie Charlotte), a powerful client (Arliss Howard) and fellow assassins dubbed the Brute (Sala Baker) and the Expert (Tilda Swinton).

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The killer stays under the radar—he avoids flashy cars and gadgets and shops at Home Depot—and creates lo-fi ways to take out his targets. Noted Fincher, “We wanted to divest ourselves of assassin movie tropes.” He should be someone you wouldn’t notice on the street, Fassbender added, speaking before the strike. “I don’t want him to be cool. He’s just a blank face shooting at you.”

The Killer, Original Movie Premiere, Friday, November 10, Netflix

This is an expanded article from TV Insider’s November issue. For more in-depth, reported coverage devoted to streaming shows from the publishers of TV Guide Magazine, pick up the issue, currently on newsstands, or purchase it online here. You can also subscribe to TV Insider Magazine here now.