David Fincher’s 2023 thriller, The Killer, uses its soundtrack to deepen the psychological tension within the film, with the band The Smiths playing a central role. Fincher’s choice to incorporate The Smiths’ melancholic yet witty sound, especially the song How Soon Is Now?, adds an unsettling layer to Michael Fassbender’s portrayal of a detached assassin, blending cold brutality with ironic distance.
How The Smiths Enhance the Mood of ‘The Killer’
David Fincher explained in an interview with Rolling Stone that the inclusion of The Smiths came late in post-production, sparked by his desire to use “How Soon Is Now?” as a sort of meditation tape for the film’s assassin. Fincher noted,
“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 reflects Fincher’s skill in injecting dark humor into otherwise chilling, unyielding scenes, creating a contrast that sharpens the film’s unsettling atmosphere.
The way The Smiths’ music pairs with violent moments in the movie echoes the cinematic technique used by Quentin Tarantino, who famously matched Stealers Wheel’s
“Stuck In The Middle With You”
with a gruesome scene in Reservoir Dogs. By combining jangly, catchy music with scenes of brutality, the horror becomes even more penetrating, highlighting the psychological complexity of the characters. In The Killer, The Smiths underscore the assassin’s casual attitude toward his actions, offering insight into Fassbender’s cold yet oddly human character.
Fincher’s use of How Soon Is Now? also draws the audience into a disturbing psychological space, distracting them with familiarity while the violent acts unfold. This creates a paradoxical tension by contrasting the music’s sense of normality with the brutal behavior on screen, emphasizing the killer’s separation from moral reality.
The song’s haunting, reverberated guitar riffs loop obsessively, mirroring the relentless nature of the killer’s mind. The lyrics, such as
“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 laden with irony. They imply a plea for empathy and understanding from Fassbender’s character, a stark contradiction to his violent persona and an expression of alienation.
David Fincher’s Broader Connection to Post-Punk and Alternative Music
The Killer continues Fincher’s established trend of using alternative and post-punk music to enhance his films’ themes. His previous work, such as Fight Club, used the Pixies’ Where Is My Mind? to question sanity and identity amidst chaotic imagery. Regarding the soundtrack for The Killer, Fincher shared with GQ,
“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 demonstrates Fincher’s affinity for music that evokes emotional distance and bleak atmospheres. By ultimately centering The Smiths in The Killer, he found a uniquely balanced tone that combines bleakness with sharp wit, something that matches the film’s dark humor and psychological complexity. The music serves as more than background—it reflects the film’s unsettling dualities and brings a human dimension to the cold narrative.
Fincher’s decision to use The Smiths as the sonic voice of the assassin transcends simple soundtrack curation. Their music becomes a lens into the character’s psychology where the hypnotic guitar of How Soon Is Now? mirrors his detached, clinical actions, and the lyrics underline his fractured sense of self and desperate need for connection despite his violent nature. Both Fincher and The Smiths expertly navigate the interplay of wit and darkness, making their collaboration on The Killer a powerful creative alignment.
