David Fincher has always known how to add a psychological edge to his already razor-sharp films with music, but his 2023 thriller, The Killer, favored one band above all else. Its use of The Smiths and their jangly, melancholic wit gave the film an unnerving presence that was super cool and actually quite clinical. The familiar riffs of the band soundtracked the actions of Michael Fassbender’s detached assassin, undercutting his brutality with a sense of irony that The Smiths own so well. In interviews, Fincher shared that his use of classics like “How Soon Is Now?” acts as a “meditation tape” for the killer, which is a paradox of dark humor and evil that results in the most unnerving shivers. The Smiths and Fincher pairing is stone-cold and perfect for that atmospheric interrogation that they’ve both mastered.
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