David Fincher Films - RANKED
- Chase Gifford
- 4d
- 11 min read
“This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time.” - The Narrator (1999, Fight Club)
I’ve made it no secret over the years that I am a David Fincher fanboy. He is on my list of creators whose name alone will guarantee me in a theater watching whatever it is they make. Scorsese, Tarantino, Nolan, Flanagan, Villeneuve, and of course, Fincher.
I’m a big horror fan and I think his movies translate well as a horror-adjacent, thriller territory. For movies as dark as his, they often border on horror towing the line between horror, thriller, and drama, sometimes even blurring the lines entirely.
I love gritty dramas. I’m enthralled by the darkness of man. Whether it’s serial killers, anti-social anarchists, or megalomaniac tech entrepreneurs, few delve into the unstable mind of modern society as convincingly or with as much command as David Fincher. His attention to detail is famous, almost obsessive. He is known for shooting numerous takes, sometimes of the most innocuous scenes seeking some kind of perfection that only he can perceive.
In Zodiac, in the opening of the film, Jake Gyllenhaal’s character, Robert Graysmith, is sitting at a stoplight as he draws a political cartoon for the newspaper he illustrates for, the San Francisco Chronicle. As he’s drawing, the light turns green and he has to toss the notebook onto the passenger seat next to him, the pages still open to the page he was working on. Gyllenhaal has stated they shot this small moment upwards of fifty times. This is the level of Fincher’s meticulousness and demanding style. But I think anyone who works with him, having seen the results, understands they might have to endure some very long days but the effort is more than worth the headache for what is often a modern masterclass in filmmaking. His efforts speak for themselves.
He has an affinity for the impossible shot, utilizing CGI to enhance or outright capture a sequence like gliding across a kitchen, still messy from the recent move as boxes and bubble wrap are scattered on floor and countertop alike. The camera flows through the handle of a coffeemaker, in between the back supports of a dinner chair as it stops with a confidence and immediacy with a closeup shot of the backdoor handle as assailants attempt to enter for nefarious reasons. There is a cold, clinical nature to his shots, creating a mood of stability often in contrast to the subject matter he usually creates. There is an observational quality to his work, as if to say there is an agenda of showcasing the darkest moments without judgement, even if the characters in his stories are deplorable and should be judged. There is a brilliance in the rarity of a handheld shot in a Fincher film. When he does switch, it’s from a normally precise, stable shot into one of instability to match a character’s possible self-implosion.
He prefers stable, high-resolution digital footage from a practical aspect as well. By shooting this way he can edit more precisely in post to digitally stabilize shots or reframe the images without a loss in quality. This allows him to maintain absolute control over every aspect of the film’s final cut. During production it can also allow for easier repeatability as fixed and precise composition allows for dozens or even hundreds of takes as every element is repeatable which helps him achieve the exact performance and visuals he requires.
I could talk Fincher all day so I’ll get to the point. I’m a fan and his movies inspire me. They remind me of why I love cinema. He’s a master of his craft and these twelve movies he has directed (so far) are evidence of his genius. This is my opinion on where his movies rank among one another. I could probably reorder this ten times but I’m happy with it as is so here we go…
12. Mank
I’m starting off this list with a bit of an odd one. Mank is brilliant in many aspects. Visually stunning, sound design quite interesting. The performances are stellar. I say it’s odd because as time has gone on after its release I’ve had to come to a realization that’s been hard for me to accept – I don’t like this movie. Ugh, it kills me to say it, write it, or think it. But it’s true. I’ve tried. I find it incredibly boring and meandering. And as intriguing as the sound design is, it deteriorates from interesting to gimmick long before the end credits. But I understand why he made it. It was a passion project written by his father, Jack Fincher. Even when he makes a film I’m not fond of, I can still appreciate it. I don’t hate it, it’s just not for me.
11. Alien³
I originally wasn’t going to include this on the list because we try not to talk about it. It was his first feature film and I think if it was anything, it was an educational experience for him. He learned everything you hope doesn’t happen on a movie set. 20th Century Fox interfered in just about every way a studio can. If you need a cautionary tale about studio interference, micromanagement and why it’s preferential for filmmakers to act as producers of their own films, look no further than Alien³. I wonder what could have been but at that point in his career, he wasn’t yet thee David Fincher, a name that now holds a lot of power behind it. A name that can demand control of the final cut. Despite their interference, there is great thematic depth, a wonderfully bleak atmosphere, and strong performances. And despite everything, his visual style still shines through.
One of the few PG-13 films in his repertoire, this is one of his most polarizing efforts. I’ve heard complaints of it being too long and tedious, having shallow storylines and an emotional hollowness. And I couldn’t disagree more. There is a classic nature to this film. It feels like old Hollywood. There is a reverence to storytelling throughout. It demands your patience but promises the outcome is worth it. I would put it in the same vein as Forrest Gump, as it follows a man that experiences life in the most unique ways and with a profoundly idealistic perspective most of us could never imagine. It has a sweeping epic quality to it, relishing in the beauty of life and the imminence of death as it comes for us all.
9. The Killer
I mentioned in my introduction the clinical nature of his filmmaking style. This story, one of precision, rules, and discipline speak to the very efforts of how Fincher shoots a movie. If Fincher was a professional hitman, this would be his character study. There is a brilliant contrast in the precision of the killer, how he narrates and the chaos of his colossal mistake. It’s as if he’s trying to convince himself that everything is okay and well within his control. The very fact that he misses his first shot, after twenty minutes of speaking about his rules and pessimistic worldview, is a prime example that nothing is within the confines of his rules and how he operates. This is a frustrating fact for him to swallow. On top of this, his clients resort to a personal attack that forces his hand to ruthlessly react in kind. For someone so concerned with controlling his reality, everything that happens is rarely predictable.
8. The Game
One of his most underrated thrillers, it’s also one of Michael Douglas’ best performances. Topsy-turvy. It’s a term that screams in my brain as I watch this. It’s as if law and order has been suspended while the elite have express permission to violate, abuse, terrorize, and exploit a man all for reasons that are anything but obvious. The catch is the man they’re ruining is no saint, far from it. He is a man that has stepped on and manipulated countless others to make his name and wealth. And he comes from a family of manipulators. He is a devil of his own making. The product of his designs have returned to haunt him, by pushing him to his limits by people he doesn’t know. If this is all a game, I’d rather play Monopoly and I hate Monopoly. One of Fincher’s most stressful efforts, also one of his most thrilling.
7. Panic Room
Some of the best films in history are single location stories. 12 Angry Men immediately comes to mind. The Hateful Eight is a brilliant example. Fincher takes the sanctity of the home and corrupts it. It takes the idea of wealth and makes it the underlying culprit to the impending madness caused by three strangers with nothing to lose. It’s a contained story of greed, betrayal, and survival. It takes the notion of being unable to teach an old dog new tricks and seeing if it holds true. Here is a divorced woman and her teenaged daughter, finding within themselves something they never knew was there; a warrior’s spirit. And they’re going to need it. This is still early on when Fincher first found his true form as a filmmaker. The cinematography, the color hues, the lighting choices and subtle use of computer imagery. He moves the camera with a gliding hand that is ghost-like highlighting the coldness and unpredictable nature of breaking and entering. Of course it’s far more complicated but it usually is.
6. Fight Club
Fincher at his most unhinged. Perhaps it’s his most pessimistic effort to date and that’s saying something. It speaks to the dangers of conformity as well as anarchism. It’s a commentary on consumerism, masculinity, loss of identity, and the search for meaning. Unchecked rebellion is violent and dangerous but somehow produces something enticing despite its inherent insanity. It provides some of the most unique performances of the 90’s ushering in an era of exploration in cinema that I hope gets a much needed revival. Movies like this that challenge what moviegoers think they understand about storytelling are extremely important. There’s a reason more than twenty years later, we still remember the first rule of… well you know.
5. Gone Girl
This was Fincher’s last thriller feature for nearly ten years. He gave us two brilliant seasons of Mindhunter (give us a third season!) but then jumped into Mank and it was a long time before anything else developed. It wasn’t until 2023 that he directed The Killer. Gone Girl is a fascinating glimpse into the volatility of monogamy. When two people tie the knot who are not psychologically inclined to do so, bad things can happen. It’s even worse when one of them is a flatout, diagnoseable psychopath. It is a pessimistic lens of marriage that examines themes of deception and identity when feeling smothered by the other person’s presence. It’s also a damning look at public bias and the sway it can have on an investigation for possible murder. It’s obvious situations like this tend to favor one gender over the other when it comes to whose corner the public will choose to defend. The girl is always the victim, the man is always the suspect. And of course when he’s proven innocent they all pretend they weren’t out for blood making wild accusations. Accountability is not a strong suit for some people. Gone Girl addresses this with an unnerving, unforgiving mindset.
4. Se7en
This is classic Fincher. Pessimistic, violent, disturbing, and acts as a commentary about the moral decay and apathy of modern society. It uses the context of the seven deadly sins as a motivating highlight of how society has lost its way. Greed. Sloth, Envy. Gluttony. Wrath. Pride. Lust. The twist is that oftentimes it doesn’t take evil for things to go wrong. Sometimes it just takes a good person to do nothing. By the end, the heroes of the story are as flawed and torn as the victims they have investigated trying to unmask John Doe who will turn their very perceptions of reality upside down. They aren’t ready for what’s in the box.
So often Fincher tells stories of killers and psychopaths committing heinous acts of violence and sexual deviancy. He relishes in the macabre nature of humanity showcasing our species in all of its ugliness. So it was a surprise when he took on the story of Mark Zuckerberg and his rise to becoming a billionaire with Facebook. But once you see the film, Fincher makes perfect sense. Although these are not murderers and violent offenders, they are manipulators and opportunists willing to step on anyone they have to in order to ascend to the top. In this portrayal, Zuckerberg is cold, calculated, and conniving. It’s about the price of success, ambition, and betrayal. It’s about sacrifice even when the very things being severed are the people that helped you rise. Zuckerberg gains everything and realizes he lost the intangibles like friendship or genuine relationships of any kind. Add into the mix a brilliant score by Ross & Reznor and you have a modern masterpiece.
These last two I struggled with. I could interchange them repeatedly for numerous reasons. But I feel confident this is where they each belong. I think Fincher is at his best when he is creating a pessimistic, macabre-natured cynical story often with hopeless characters and a glaring, up-close examination of mankind at its worst and most horrendous. Few cover this as well as his interpretation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. A disgraced journalist and a psychologically damaged private investigator are tasked with finding a girl who has been missing for 40 years. It would turn into a grim manhunt for one of Sweden’s most prolific serial murderers in its history (if he were real of course). The nature of these killings are bizarre and unimaginably maniacal and unfailingly cruel. Ranging from beheadings and rape to body desecration all in the theme of Leviticus. And it would seem what happened to Harriet is connected to these killings.
With Fincher’s iconic cinematography, an unabashed tendency for deep explorations of mankind’s most disturbing behaviors, Dragon Tattoo is Fincher at the height of his powers. It doesn’t hurt that it also features an award worthy performance by Rooney Mara as the fascinating and somehow alluring Lisbeth Salander. She is transcendent as Lisbeth and acts in ways Daniel Craig’s Mikael Blomkvist cannot. In the realm of serial killers, no one does it better than Fincher. Hence my number one.
1. Zodiac
I give Zodiac the slight edge over Dragon Tattoo based on the execution of telling this true story. Embellished at times I’m sure but it’s the insane attention to detail that elevates Zodiac to one of the best procedurals ever made. One of the most amazing aspects of this film is the runtime never causing the story to become stagnant. It is wholly enveloping from the opening gliding side shot of a neighborhood lit by countless fireworks on July 4th all the way to that final moment at the airport in 1991 when Mike Mageau identified Arthur Leigh Allen as the man who shot him.
As I was writing this I learned something I never knew which only solidifies my choice in ranking. Every time the Zodiac is physically on screen, a different actor is used. This was done intentionally to reflect the conflicting eyewitness accounts and to emphasize that his identity remains unknown. It was done to highlight the uncertainty of the killer’s appearance, to account for the possibility of multiple people being involved, and to maintain the overall mystery surrounding the case. Absolutely brilliant. The focus on obsessive behavior, by the killer and his pursuers, police and cartoonists alike, is utterly fascinating and a damning case study of humanity’s most ruinous traits. Zodiac is one of the most fascinating films of the modern age. It is a masterpiece.
That’s my list of David Fincher films ranked. The most important thing to remember about these movies, Mank included, there is not a terrible film in the whole bunch. Yes I know Alien³ isn’t great but it’s through no fault of Fincher’s having suffered immense studio interference. They damned that movie before it ever saw the light of day. I maintain that although it isn’t a great movie, it has a lot going for it and clearly demonstrates a lot of future potential that would be fully realized in the years to come for Fincher.
As for Mank, I may not like it but its craft is pristine and masterful. I can appreciate it even if I have no intention of ever watching it again. I admire it from afar. I look forward to updating this list for many years to come.