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.
The Smiths’ Brilliant Ability To Soundtrack ‘The Killer’
When asked about his decisions for the soundtrack of The Killer, David Fincher told Rolling Stonethat “The Smiths were a post-production edition because I knew I wanted to use ‘How Soon Is Now?,’ and I love the idea of that song…I like it as a meditation tape. I thought it was amusing and funny.” This notion of The Smiths bringing an edge of humor to the film shows the brilliant contradiction in Fincher’s work that makes the brutality so effectively cutting.
This interesting paradox of cinematic emotional coldness and musical jauntiness echoes Quentin Tarantino’s use of Stealers Wheel’s “Stuck In The Middle With You” during that scene in Reservoir Dogs. The jangly music juxtaposed with grotesque violence only deepens the horror, acting as both a distraction and as a character study. In The Killer, Fincher applies The Smiths in a similar way. The music of The Smiths serves as a way to amplify how casual an act the killer regards his actions to be and offers an insight into Michael Fassbender’s unsettling character.
Fincher’s use of “How Soon Is Now?” also offers a sense of distraction to the audience, a piece of familiar background to divert from the predatory acts on screen. This angle has a disturbing nature, and one that highlights how far from a moral reality the behavior in the film is. In this instance, The Smiths serve as a measure of normality that the scene contradicts.
“How Soon Is Now?” is undeniably hypnotic, with its heavily reverberated guitars repeating throughout its duration, almost tormenting the audience as the killer does. The lyrics, like “shut your mouth, how can you say I go about things the wrong way? / I am human, and I need to be loved, just like everybody else does” are, in this case, absurdly ironic. It’s as if Fassbender’s character is pleading with the audience to understand his actions and empathize with his humanity. This sense of alienation and need for belonging is a stark counterpoint to the essence of a cold-blooded killer.
David Fincher’s Wider Post-Punk Aesthetic
Of course, the 2023 thriller isn’t the first time David Fincher has toyed with his soundtracks to unravel the complexities of his films. His choice of Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?” Fight Clubintensified questions of sanity and morality against a backdrop of crumbling skyscrapers into a moment of oddly victorious sense of self-certainty. Actually, Fincher’s taste leans pretty strongly into the alternative scene, telling GQ that for The Killer, “originally, we had an entire soundtrack that was Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, full-on pre-goth…But every time a song would drop out, we would replace it with The Smiths. ‘This Charming Man,’ and so on. Every single time it was The Smiths, it was both sardonic and raw.”
This broader, post-punk gothic palette showcases Fincher’s natural aptitude to approach his soundtracks with a final feeling of menacing distance. He not only likes but also uses music that creates a detached atmosphere that inevitably unsettles the audience. Ultimately, landing on The Smiths for The Killer meant a balance that offered not only bleakness but a unique sense of witty irony that only they could bring. The music of The Smiths quite wonderfully mirrors the dark humor, the disturbing with a sprinkle of humanity, that Fincher so often offers.
In entrusting The Smiths to soundtrack The Killer, David Fincher did much more than curate a killer mixtape. By framing The Smiths as a window into the killer, Fincher reveals a great deal more about the psychology of his character than through the enigmatic dialogue. The hypnotic guitar line of “How Soon Is Now?” aptly hones in on the cold and clinical nature of the thriller, while the ironic lyrics lean into the alienation felt as a consequence of violence. The duality of wit and bleakness is a tone that both The Smiths and David Fincher champion, and so the crossover is a great one. Ultimately, Fincher’s fondness for alternative music isn’t just a tasteful accompaniment, but becomes the gateway to an atmosphere that can only be accessed through sound.
