David Fincher is the kind of filmmaker that people can spot a mile away. His work has earned him a dedicated fan base and people who yearn to see what the director is going to do next. One of his best films is the 2007 film Zodiac, and now fans can revisit the masterpiece when it hits streaming on Paramount+ this January! Zodiac focuses on the mystery of the Zodiac Killer, who terrorized the San Francisco area in the late 1960s.
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, and more, the movie does a great job of detailing what we do know about the Zodiac case, but also has a very clear vision of what Fincher and company think really happened. To this day, the actual Zodiac Killer has never been caught. Even when there is new “evidence” about the case that is revealed, we’ve never had a definitive answer on who it is. But John Carroll Lynch played Arthur Leigh Allen, a popular suspect surrounding the case, and the film does make it seem as if those involved thought it was Allen.
The over 2-hour movie starts at the Zodiac Killer’s first kill and spans the year of the documented killing spree of the Zodiac killer. While there were other murders that the anonymous killer claimed, the film sticks with the case from 1968 to 1969 and is terrifying exactly when it needs to be. Robert Graysmith (Gyllenhaal), in a basement looking at records in the dark, will stay with you long after you finish the movie, and that’s part of Fincher’s genius as a director, especially with a story like Zodiac.
Zodiac Gave Us One of Netflix’s Best Shows
Part of why the Netflix series Mindhunter exists is because of Fincher’s work on Zodiac. He didn’t think his work was done on the 2007 film and wanted to add more of the actual case into the movie, which is why he spent so much time and effort on Mindhunter. The series details the FBI’s establishment of the serial killer profile they use to this day, which Ed Kemper helped establish. The show was short-lived, but it’s still one that fans want Fincher and Netflix to bring back.
You can watch Gyllenhaal and Downey join forces in Zodiac when it arrives on Paramount+ on January 1.
- Release Date
-
March 2, 2007
- Runtime
-
157 minutes
