The Killer, Netflix's big David Fincher movie, is getting great reviews. Fincher doesn't make bad movies – just see our ranking of his movies from worst to best – so what might have been a fairly standard assassin movie in lesser hands is taut and thrilling with a side of nihilistic darkness.
It might not be his best work, but as Decider puts it: "The Killer is ultimately Minor Fincher, which of course is better than Major Lots of Other People." It's definitely one for viewers who like to spend a bit of time in the darkness.
There are plenty more dark and disturbing thrillers to watch on Netflix when you've had your Fincher fix. Here are three of our current favorites on the best streaming service.
Prisoners
The strapline doesn't really sell it very well: "After his young daughter and her friend go missing, a desperate father clashes with the detective on the case and takes matters into his own hands." But don't be fooled, this twisty thriller spins more plates than a stage magician, features superb performances from Hugh Jackman and Paul Dano, and is much more ambitious than your average revenge thriller. It's filmed more like a horror movie, and some of it is very hard to watch. As Grant Watson writes in Fiction Machine: "There is a level of bleakness to Villeneuve's film that one usually only sees in the film cultures of Japan and South Korea - a willingness to take a narrative one step further than its audience might be comfortable taking."
If you're in Australia, you can stream this on Foxtel Now.
The Platform
As killer concepts go, this one's a doozy. An enormous slab of food descends floor by floor in a horrendous multi-level prison, with the inmates at the top eating well and those below, not so much. What happens next is a high-tech riff on Dante Alighieri's Inferno that's grim, violent, thought provoking and the kind of thing that'll make you vow never, ever to watch it again. Thrillist puts it really well, describing it as "a Twilight Zone-level mind-bender mixed with a dark psychological horror film full of pointed social commentary."
Nowhere
This one's proving deeply divisive, with some critics praising the artistry and high concept and others – or sometimes, the same critics – saying it can be a bit of an ordeal. It's certainly bleak, nail-biting and claustrophobic. Set in a dystopian not-too-distant future, it's the story of a young woman who will do anything to keep herself and her newborn child alive. Escaping a totalitarian government, the very pregnant Mia and her partner Nico are separated – and before long Mia finds herself at sea, alone, and going into labor. The film focuses on her increasingly desperate attempts to survive, and the inclusion of a newborn child adds an element of extra horror and tension that elevates this above other single-location survival thrillers.
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