Venice Film Festival Chief Alberto Barbera has hyped the quality of several of the movies due to debut at the event, including the thrillerThe Killerfrom director David Fincher. Speaking withDeadline, Barbera has described the movie as “breathtaking” and “vert violent,” revealing that it sees the filmmaker return to more familiar ground following his biographical dramaMankback in 2020.
“Yes, absolutely. It’s based on a French graphic novel and the film is very violent. It’s breathtaking from beginning to the end. Michael Fassbender is fantastic.”
As well as heaping praise on Academy Award nominee Michael Fassbender, who takes on the lead role of an isolated assassin inThe Killer, Barbera declares that the thriller could quite easily find itself in the next Oscar race. As could several other movies due to premiere at the 80th Venice International Film Festival in September.
“For sure Michael Mann’s film Ferrari; for sure David Fincher’s film The Killer; and Bradley Cooper’s film Maestro. I’d be surprised if these movies weren’t in the Oscar race.”
The Killeris just one of the major moviesall set to debut at Venice, with Fincher’s tale of an assassin being joined by Michael Mann’sFerrari, which stars Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari, the Italian founder of the car manufacturer Ferrari; and Bradley Cooper’sMaestro, a biopic about the life of Leonard Bernstein starring Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein and Carey Mulligan as Felicia Montealegre.
The rest of the line-up includesOriginfrom Ava DuVernay, Wes Anderson’sThe Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar, Richard Linklater’sHit Man,Poor Thingsfrom Yorgos Lanthimos, and Sofia Coppola’sPriscilla, which follows Priscilla Presley and her life with Elvis Presley.
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The Killer Stars Michael Fassbender as a Cold, Calculating Hitman
Directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker,The Killeris based on the French graphic novel series of the same name by Alexis Nolent. Starring Michael Fassbender as Christian, aka The Killer, alongside Charles Parnell, Arliss Howard, Sophie Charlotte, and Tilda Swinton,The Killerhas been described as “a brutal, bloody and stylish noir story.”
Much like its central character,The Killerlargely remains something of a mystery, with only glimpses of footage having been released. Thankfully, the curtain has been pulled back ever so slightly thanks to a new image (above) fromEmpire Magazine, which shows Fassbender as the titular assassin.
Fassbender will lead the movie as a solitary, cold, methodical hitman unencumbered by scruples or regrets. Waiting in the shadows, watching for his next target, the longer he waits, the more he thinks he’s losing his mind, if not his cool. Netflix meanwhile has offered the following details regarding the plot ofThe Killer; “After a fateful near-miss an assassin battles his employers, and himself, on an international manhunt he insists isn’t personal.”
The Venice Film Festival will take place later this year and runs from 30 August to 9 September. Following its debut at Venice,The Killeris then scheduled to be released by Netflix on July 02, 2025.
