The Killer streaming on Netflix
Since he first hit the multiplexes with Se7en (technically his second film, but he has since disavowed the cut of Alien 3 that screened in theaters), David Fincher has consistently explored three themes: obsession, process and the demystification of killers. The Killer is a continuation of — maybe even the culmination of — his thoughts on all three. Even with all those big ideas swirling about, the film is refreshingly low-stakes, a rare occurrence for a genuine auteur in the modern film landscape. It feels like a throwback to Fincher’s The Game or Panic Room era — but less commercial. With this beingjust the director’s second film following 2014’s massively successful Gone Girl, a new Fincher film starring Michael Fassbender seems like it should be a genuine event. But The Killer has its mind on more esoteric sources, like crime films of the French New Wave or ’80s Hong Kong. Of all the titles in this roundup, this is the one I really wish I could’ve seen on a big screen. The carefully constructed sound editing and mixing choices would have boomed over theatrical speakers.
May December streaming on Netflix
Only Todd Haynes could have gotten away with May December, and boy did he walk the tightrope between parodic camp romp and genuine high-stakes human drama expertly. Painting a story inspired by true events this complex with the aesthetic of a ’90s sleaze thriller should not work, yet somehow it does. Haynes adds layer upon layer until you’re left with a tome’s worth of ideas to unpack. All three leads — Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore and Charles Melton — understood their assignments perfectly. I was especially happy to see Portman back in a real movie for the first time in nearly half a decade and Moore back in her comfort zone as a deranged housewife, but it’s Melton who steals the show. The Riverdale heartthrob pulls off “genteel suburban dad coming apart at the seams” better than I ever would have expected.
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial streaming via the Showtime app on Paramount+
It’s a shame that the final film by the late, great William Friedkin was dumped onto a subsection of a streaming service that requires a separate subscription to even access. The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial is a send-off not only for Friedkin, who died in August, but also for always-excellent character actor Lance Reddick, a personal favorite who died in March. Sure, its source material’s roots as a stage play don’t make for the most cinematic of setups, but the director of The Exorcist and The French Connection deserved a better rollout than this! As for the film, it’s for the true courtroom-drama heads, just scene after scene of well-delivered arguments, heated exchanges, and even some lite-Sorkin speechifying. Pure, uncut courtroom. Nothing more, nothing less. Between this and his turn in Oppenheimer, Jason Clarke is the king of the cross-examination in 2023.
Wes Anderson's "The Swan"
Wes Anderson’s Roald Dahl shorts streaming on Netflix
Speaking of films that were unceremoniously dumped on a streaming service, did you know Wes Anderson followed up the maximalist brilliance of Asteroid City with not one but four short films that debuted on Netflix in September? Returning to the world of Roald Dahl for the first time since 2009’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, Anderson adapted a quartet of Dahl short stories: “The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar,” “The Swan,” “The Ratcatcher” and “Poison.” The shorts all star various combinations of Benedict Cumberbatch, Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, Rupert Friend and Richard Ayoade, with the characters narrating much of the proceedings directly to the camera. It represents something of a logistical endpoint for Anderson’s metanarrative trickery. I still prefer Anderson’s 2007 short film “Hotel Chevalier,”but each of the increasingly darker shorts provides a worthwhile viewing experience.
Fair Play streaming on Netflix
Look, I tried not to make this a Netflix commercial, but the streaming giant is really letting directors cook this fall. Fair Play is the directorial debut of Chloe Domont, a filmmaker mostly known for her work on TV shows like Ballers and Billions. Domont shows off some serious directorial chops with this tightly wound throwback to ’90s corporate thrillers. She infuses the story with enough modern insight to separate it from the erotic thrillers of that era. The film sort of careens off the rails at the end, but I’ll take even two-thirds of a successful version of this type of movie any day. Bridgerton’sPhoebe Dynevor gives an empathetic, complicated, star-making performance in the lead role, while Alden Ehrenreich continues a stellar 2023 in his return from movie-star jail following a string of leading-man flops.
