David Fincher’s The Killer could mark a turning point in the director’s career thanks to Michael Fassbender’s performance in the movie. The first thriller from Fincher since 2014, The Killer made its debut at the Venice International Film Festival where it received a Special Mention for its music, and that’s likely not the last of its accolades. Ahead of The Killer‘s limited theatrical release date, the Netflix original has already garnered mostly positive reviews, with an 82% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, and much of the praise is going to Fassbender’s lead performance.
The Killer is Fassbender’s comeback movie, as it’s his first acting gig since 2019’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix. He stars in The Killer as the title character, a cold assassin who fights against his employers — and his own state of mind — after a job goes fatally wrong. Fassbender has been receiving a lot of attention for his role in the action thriller, and his performance is being celebrated by critics, but there hasn’t been a lot of Oscar buzz for his work in the movie. If Fassbender isn’t recognized by the Academy Awards for his performance in The Killer, that will be a big disappointment in terms of Fincher’s filmography.
Michael Fassbender Could Be The First David Fincher Lead Without An Oscar Nomination Since Zodiac
Since 2008, each of David Fincher’s movies has received an Oscar nomination for one of its lead performances: Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network, Rooney Mara in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl, and Gary Oldman in Mank. There’s a possibility that Michael Fassbender could be the first lead actor in a David Fincher film to not receive an Academy Award nomination since Zodiac. While reviews of The Killer have singled out his performance, it’s not yet clear if it’s good enough to be nominated for next year’s Oscars.
Even If He’s Nominated, Michael Fassbender Will Likely Continue David Fincher’s Acting Oscars Curse
With his role in The Killer, Michael Fassbender could see a career resurgence after taking a three-year hiatus from acting to race cars professionally. However, even if he does receive an Oscar nomination for his performance in the movie, the chances are high that Fassbender will continue a 16-year-long curse involving David Fincher’s movies and the Academy Awards. While since 2008, Fincher has been on a five-film streak regarding his lead actors being nominated for Oscars, none of these performances actually won the award.
Fassbender is also no stranger to missing out on an Oscar win. He previously received nominations for his performances in 12 Years a Slave and Steve Jobs but lost both, to Jared Leto and Leonardo DiCaprio, respectively. Even if Fassbender is nominated for The Killer, he’ll likely be up against DiCaprio again, for Killers of the Flower Moon, plus Oppenheimer‘s Cillian Murphy. The nominations for the 96th Academy Awards will be announced on January 23, 2024, so the public has a while before finding out if David Fincher’s The Killer and Fassbender’s performance will even be among the contenders.
