Society is endlessly fascinated by the lives of contract killers. They're all over every medium, from comics to cinema. The John Wick franchise turned a celebrated assassin into one of Hollywood's most memorable heroes. In The Killer, David Fincher trains his artistic eye on an unnamed hitman as he carries out his grim work with the clockwork efficiency of a famously meticulous film director.

David Fincher has been attached to Netflix for a few years now. After his masterful 2014 film Gone Girl, he stepped away from the big screen for a few years. He directed two episodes of House of Cards, then seven episodes of Mindhunter, followed by a short for Love, Death & Robots. That animated anthology brought Fincher back into collaboration with Seven screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker, and they're together again for The Killer.

The Killer: What is David Fincher’s Hitman Thriller About?

Michael Fassbender stars as the titular role in a story about a man who does what is his name implies.

Michael Fassbender stars as an impossibly practiced, cold, and careful contract killer. His inner monologue provides over half of the spoken dialogue in the film. He's quick to assure the audience that he's not special. Fassbender posts up in an abandoned Paris WeWork office, eats McDonald's, practices yoga, and listens to The Smiths. He looks for all the world like one of the thousand tourists who pass him by. Hours turn to days as he waits, confident that his advanced tolerance for boredom makes him a professional asset. Finally, his target reveals himself, allowing Fassbender to take the shot. He misses. That fateful failure sends assassins to his hidden home in retribution. When they can't find him, they beat his girlfriend to the brink of death. Fassbender is committed to his apathetic killer ethos, but seeing his lover in pain pushes him to use his talents against those who wronged him. It's a revenge thriller with the cold, calculating presentation of Fincher's perfect assassin.

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The Killer is Fincher's Le Samourai. The film is naked in its similarities to Jean-Pierre Melville's masterful 1967 neo-noir. Some of that originated in its source material, a long-running graphic novel series by Matz and Luc Jacamon. The comic developed with explicit references to the French noir tradition. The Killer also adapts Jacamon's masterful use of imagery. The visuals are consistently striking. Cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt uses some tactics he perfected on Mindhunter to create an eery sense of alienation in otherwise beautiful settings. Fassbender is regularly framed behind glass, hidden from the humanizing angles one usually grants a star. It's as cold as Fassbender's assassin. No story has ever fit Fincher's usual distance as well as this one. The titular killer is an artist who happens to share his director's sense of perfectionism and humor.

Fassbender is at his absolute best here. It's his stellar performance in Shame, with brutal violence in place of explicit sex. His unnamed character wants to be a blank slate. He wants to fade into the background. His inner monologue starts and stops as forces from outside interrupt him. He rarely speaks, often staring silently at friend and foe like the Terminator. The depths of his internal conflict and bizarre understanding of social hierarchy reveal fascinating shades behind his polished exterior. The rest of the cast is similarly excellent. Fassbender's hit list includes Tilda Swinton as the only charismatic person in the film. Her sudden appearance in the film is like leaping into a hot tub during a freezing night. Stuntman/Sauron Sala Baker appears as a musclebound killer in the film's finest action scene. Charles Parnell of Top Gun: Maverick fame appears as the lawyer who brought Fassbender into the contract-killing industry. Fassbender's victims are almost too human. They're roaring flames who beg, argue, fight, barter, and struggle against his grim reaper.

The Killer is a triumph of presentation. The narrative isn't anything terribly original. Everyone has seen an assassin betrayed by his handlers. Everyone has seen that killer exact revenge. It is, in many ways, the opposite of John Wick. Where Mr. Wick shoots, stabs, and bludgeons his way through an army in every outing, The Killer struggles against one muscular stranger. It's more than a difference in action set pieces. The Killer fixates on every detail of its title character's 9-to-5. How does he evade the security cameras at Ace Hardware? He pays someone else to buy his tools. How does he slip into a secure building? Wait for them to order Postmates and walk through the slowly closing door. It's passé to suggest one could learn to kill from a work of fiction. This isn't a how-to guide. It's an exploration of a job that covers every element of that career. All of its grim realities give the audience a new perspective that's endlessly compelling.

The Killer isn't David Fincher's best film, but it feels comfortable next to Zodiac and Seven. It's an intense, brooding, ice-cold experience that allows the director to paint his process with staggering specificity. Those who are less interested in the tone-poem vibe might be frustrated by the light narrative and unimpressive ending. The Killer will stay with its audience. It's as grim as it is darkly hilarious. Don a hat and sunglasses, slip into a crowd, and enjoy the adventures of Michael Fassbender's unnamed assassin. The Killer is available to stream on Netflix now.