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The best shows and movies about the now-solved zodiac killer case.

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The time has finally come. After decades of uncertainty and many attempts to crack open the case, the Zodiac Killer has finally been identified .

The infamous serial killer allegedly murdered more than 37 victims over the course of his killing spree. He terrorized Northern California in the late ’60s through the ’70s, and his identity hasn’t been pinned down until now.

According to investigators with the Case Breakers , Gary Francis Poste was identified as the killer, but he died in 2018. During the decade of “make love not war,” he sent cryptic letters, taunting law enforcement.

While there has been much speculation over the years regarding his identity, Hollywood has played detective, too, with countless portrayals of the case on the big and small screens. Here are some of the best books, movies and TV adaptions to get your fill of the Zodiac Killer case.

For all those bookworms out there:

“ Zodiac ” by Robert Graysmith

This 1986 book served as the basis for the 2007 David Fincher-directed film. Since its original debut, the nonfiction book has sold more than 4 million copies. Graysmith started his writing career working as a cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle in the 1960s when the Zodiac murders began.

The book was so well-researched that many readers began to actually believe that the author was the serial killer himself. A sequel, “ Zodiac Unmasked: The Identity of America’s Most Elusive Serial Killer Revealed ,” was published in 2002 and reexamined the research in an attempt to truly find out the identity of the killer once and for all.

"Zodiac Unmasked: The Identity of America's Most Elusive Serial Killer Revealed,"

“ ‘This Is the Zodiac Speaking’: Into the Mind of a Serial Killer ” by Michael D. Kelleher and David Van Nuys

Writer Michael D. Kelleher teamed up with psychologist David Van Nuys to pen a true-crime book to try to understand the psychopathic mind of a murderer. In their 2001 book, the two re-create crime scenes, examine police records and analyze the Zodiac Killer’s infamous handwritten notes in order to shed some light on the slasher’s wicked and twisted mind.

For lovers of the small screen:

“ The Hunt for the Zodiac Killer “

The History Channel released a five-part miniseries in 2017 in which the network brought in code breakers and investigators to decipher the Zodiac’s cryptic messages that had been sent to authorities and newspapers. The team of experts leading the investigation for the show includes retired LAPD homicide detective, Sal LaBarbera, former FBI detective Ken Mains and University of Southern California professor of computer science Kevin Knight.

“ The Most Dangerous Animal of All “

This four-part documentary series aired on FX in 2020 and is based on the New York Times best-selling book of the same name. The show dives deep into one man’s journey and search for his father, who left him — the man believed that his father is the Zodiac mastermind himself.

For moviegoers everywhere:

“ Zodiac “

Perhaps the most famous adaption of the case is Fincher’s 2007 big-screen flick. The thriller is based on Graysmith’s books and starred the talents of Jake Gyllenhaal as Graysmith himself, alongside actors Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Brian Cox, John Carroll Lynch and Chloë Sevigny.

The film follows the story of Graysmith, crime reporter Paul Avery (Downey Jr.) and inspector Dave Toschi (Ruffalo) as they try to solve the case and uncover the identity of the Zodiac through an extensive investigation.

Watch the film on YouTube and on Netflix .

“ Awakening the Zodiac “

This 2017 Canadian mystery drama is a highly fictionalized version of the cold case. The movie is directed by Jonathan Wright and stars Shane West and Leslie Bibb.

According to the thriller’s official synopsis, the story follows “a down-on-their-luck [young couple] who discover the serial killer’s film reels. They decide to take the law into their own hands, risking everything for the chance at a $100,000 reward. It isn’t long until they find themselves in the killer’s lethal crosshairs.”

Watch the film on Amazon Prime Video .

“ The Zodiac Killer “

This 1971 film was released while the Zodiac Killer was still on the loose and was directed by Tom Hanson with Hal Reed, Bob Jones, Ray Lynch and Tom Pittman starring in the low-budget flick. While the plot is based on the murders, many creative freedoms were taken with the case’s investigation. A backstory, as well as a name, were given to the Zodiac Killer and the film portrays a month through the eyes of the murderer.

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Zodiac Ending Explained: Is Arthur Leigh Allen The Zodiac Killer?

John Carroll Lynch as Arthur Leigh Allen in Zodiac 2007

It’s fitting that one of the most notorious mysteries in modern American history would be at the center of one of the greatest crime films ever made. The mystery of the Zodiac Killer – a serial murderer who terrorized the San Francisco Bay Area for years during the 1960s and 1970s – is a case that has inspired heaps of speculation, but no firm conclusions, and David Fincher ’s 2007 movie is a remarkable epic chronicling that time and the search for answers. Naturally, the feature adaptation of events doesn’t conclude by wrapping up the whole story with a bow, as it primarily sticks to events that happened in reality , but Zodiac ’s ending does make a pointed effort of shining a light on Arthur Leigh Allen, played by John Carroll Lynch, as a key suspect.

Because the story of the Zodiac Killer doesn’t have any kind of definitive ending in real life, the ending of David Fincher’s movie is fascinating in its own way – and invites the audience to dig deeper and develop their own explanations based on the evidence provided. Looking back at the remarkable entry in the legendary history of crime films, let’s dive deep into the ending of Zodiac and explore…

What Happens At The End Of Zodiac

The third act of Zodiac follows Robert Greysmith ( Jake Gyllenhaal ) as his personal investigation to uncover the identity of the Zodiac Killer takes over his life, and reaches a depressing climax when his wife Melanie (Chloë Sevigny) comes by their former home to drop off divorce papers. The place is a mess, as the rooms are filled with stacks of documents being examined as potential evidence, and Greysmith is stressed from repeated anonymous phone calls where all that comes from the other end of the line is heavy breathing.

Melanie laments the trajectory of their relationship, knocking over and picking up a stack of papers as she approaches her soon-to-be-ex-husband, and before she leaves she drops the divorce contract and the stray material on the floor in front of him. When Robert examines the pile, he discovers a photocopy of Arthur Leigh Allen’s driver’s license, revealing his birthday as December 18 – the same day that the Zodiac Killer called attorney Melvin Belli ( Brian Cox ) saying it was his birthday and that he needed to kill (per Belli’s housekeeper).

With this new evidence in hand, Robert goes out in the middle of the night during a massive downpour to visit Inspector David Toschi ( Mark Ruffalo ). Waking him up, the former cartoonist tells him about the phone call and the birthday, which is enough to get David invested. Together they head out to a local diner to discuss Robert’s evidence.

Convinced that Arthur Leigh Allen is the Zodiac Killer, Robert lays out his findings, including everything from the possible relationship that existed between Allen and the first ever victim, Darlene Ferrin (Ciara Moriarty), to how the timeline of events syncs up with notable episodes and movements in the suspect’s life over the last decade. By the end of the conversation, David seems mostly convinced by Robert’s conclusions, but acknowledges the bigger problem: there is no hard evidence linking Allen to the murders. With no hard evidence there is no solid case to be built, and without a solid case, charges can’t be brought up.

Approximately five years later, on December 20, 1983, Robert Greysmith visits a hardware store in Vallejo, CA. He enters and goes straight to a counter where he finds himself face-to-face with Arthur Leigh Allen. He’s working as an employee at the store, and a patch on his vest reads “Lee.” Allen asks if he can help with anything, and Robert says no. They size each other up silently before Robert turns to leave.

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Zodiac then jumps ahead another seven-and-a-half years to August 16, 1991 with a scene set at the Ontario International Airport. Robert Greysmith’s book about the Zodiac killer is on bookshelves labeled as a best-seller, and the long-absent Mike Mageau (Jimmi Simpson) agrees to an interview with Officer George Bawart (James Le Gros) of the Vallejo Police Department. Being the former boyfriend of Darlene Ferrin and a Zodiac Killer survivor, he is shown a lineup of photographs and asked if any of the men pictured attempted to kill him 22 years prior.

Told that he didn’t have to identify anyone, Mike Mageau points to the picture of Arthur Leigh Allen, saying “It’s him.” Asked to clarify how sure he is on a scale of one to 10, the survivor says, “At least an eight. Last time I saw this face was July 4, 1969. I’m very sure that’s the man who shot me.”

Before the end credits roll, text appears on screen noting that Arthur Leigh Allen died from a heart attack before he could take part in a meeting with the police following Mike Mageau’s identification. Furthermore, a partial DNA profile was run from a sample required from a Zodiac Killer envelope in 2002, and Allen could not be ruled out as a suspect. The San Francisco shut down their Zodiac Killer investigation in 2004, but as of the release of the film it remained an open case in Napa County, Solano County, and Vallejo. Robert Greysmith says he stopped receiving anonymous calls after Allen’s death.

So what does this all mean? Is Arthur Leigh Allen the Zodiac killer? Let’s dig in…

The Evidence Supporting Arthur Leigh Allen Being The Zodiac Killer

David Fincher’s Zodiac doesn’t make any kind of firm conclusions, allowing the audience to ingest the evidence showcased and make their own inferences. That being said, there is no figure in the story who has more fingers pointed at him than Arthur Leigh Allen. He may have never been charged as the Zodiac Killer, but all of the evidence dug up by Robert Greysmith certainly paints it as a realistic possibility, along with Mike Mageau’s witness testimony.

First there are the harmonious pieces of circumstantial evidence. As seen when Arthur Leigh Allen is interviewed by David Toschi, William Armstrong (Anthony Edwards) and Jack Mulanax (Elias Koteas), he not only wore a Zodiac watch – which seemed to be the inspiration for the killer’s name and symbol, but also military boots the same size as prints found at crime scenes, and also the same size gloves. Syncing up with the letters sent by the murderer, Allen also professed to being a big fan of the book The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell (referenced in the taunting notes), and was also known to misspell the word “Christmas” as “Christmass” (which the police learned from Allen’s own brother).

Arguably more significant than any of that, however, is the way in which Arthur Leigh Allen’s life seemed to frequently link up with the Zodiac Killer activities in the 1960s and 1970s. The first possible incident involving the murderer in Vallejo, California happened eight months after Allen was fired from his job because of child molestations. As for Darlene Ferrin, Allen lived in his mother’s basement less than 50 yards from Darlene’s place of employment, and it was confirmed that she had been seen with a strange guy named Lee.

Then there is the matter of Arthur Leigh Allen’s strange behavior after he was first interviewed by the police during the Zodiac Killer investigation. Two days after his meeting with Toschi, Armstrong, and Mulanax he moved to a different county, and letters stopped coming in for three years. As noted by Robert Greysmith, it was only after police moved away from Allen as a suspect that the letters began again – and then the letters noticeably stopped once more after Allen was arrested and sent to prison. Four years passed, but after Allen was released in 1977, the letters started again.

Altogether the evidence pointing at Arthur Leigh Allen seems solid – but there are some key holes in the case.

The Evidence Against Arthur Leigh Allen Being The Zodiac Killer

As pointed out by David Toschi in his diner chat with Robert Greysmith, the problem with building a case against Arthur Leigh Allen was that there were just enough issues to prevent a jury from convicting beyond a reasonable doubt. Circumstantial evidence doesn’t carry as much weight in a courtroom as physical evidence, and the police didn’t have anything of that nature that linked Allen to the murders. The search of his home after the initial interview turned up nothing, though it’s possible he disposed of evidence due to paranoia.

Also working against the theory were scientific findings. Prints found at the scene didn’t match Arthur Leigh Allen, and handwriting expert Sherwood Morrill (Philip Baker Hall) filed a report saying that the notes written by the Zodiac Killer didn’t match up with Allen’s penmanship. That being said, the filing notably didn’t factor in that Allen was ambidextrous, and his own protégé’s study of the same material didn’t disqualify him as the possible killer.

The legal system in America posits that every person is innocent until proven guilty, and in the case of Arthur Leigh Allen it was determined by the police that there simply wasn’t enough evidence to serve as the necessary proof. As Robert Greysmith says to David Toschi shortly before they part ways, though, “Just because you can’t prove it doesn’t mean it isn’t true.”

Where Things Stand With The Zodiac Killer In Real Life

Unlike David Fincher’s The Social Network, which is now begging for a sequel due to the impact that Facebook has had on society since 2010, Zodiac is a film not really needing a follow-up, as there haven’t been any real significant breakthroughs in the case since the movie was released back in 2007 .

The only recent development involving the hunt for the Zodiac Killer happened in May 2018 when it was announced by the Vallejo Police Department that there were going to be efforts to try and retrieve DNA from the back of the stamps that were on the letters that he sent. The results from the efforts have not yet been made public.

Given everything has been discussed here, and your own readings of David Fincher’s film, what are your conclusions about the ending of Zodiac ? Do you think that Arthur Leigh Allen was the notorious west coast serial killer? Could it have been one of the other suspects that the movie suggests, like Bob Vaughn? Answer our poll below, and hit the comments section with your thoughts, feelings, and opinions.

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Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.

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Hunting a Killer as the Age of Aquarius Dies

By Manohla Dargis

March 2, 2007

David Fincher’s magnificently obsessive new film, “Zodiac,” tracks the story of the serial killer who left dead bodies up and down California in the 1960s and possibly the ’70s, and that of the men who tried to stop him. Set when the Age of Aquarius disappeared into the black hole of the Manson family murders, the film is at once sprawling and tightly constructed, opaque and meticulously detailed. It’s part police procedural, part monster movie, a funereal entertainment that is an unexpected repudiation of Mr. Fincher’s most famous movie, the serial-killer fiction “Seven,” as well as a testament to this cinematic savant’s gifts.

Informed by history and steeped in pulp fiction, “Zodiac” stars a trio of beauties — Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo — all at the top of their performance game and captured in out-of-sight high-definition digital by the cinematographer Harris Savides. Mr. Gyllenhaal is the sneaky star of the show as the real-life cartoonist turned writer Robert Graysmith, though he doesn’t emerge from the wings until fairly late, after the bodies and the investigations have cooled. A silky, seductive Mr. Downey plays Paul Avery, a showboating newspaper reporter who chased the killer in print, while Mr. Ruffalo struts his estimable stuff as Dave Toschi, the San Francisco police detective who taught Steve McQueen how to wear a gun in “Bullitt” and pursued Zodiac close to the ground.

The relative unknown James Vanderbilt wrote the jigsaw-puzzle screenplay, working from Mr. Graysmith’s exhaustive, exhausting true-crime accounts of the murders and their investigations, “Zodiac” and “Zodiac Unmasked.” Mr. Graysmith, coyly played by Mr. Gyllenhaal as something of an overgrown Hardy Boy, his great big eyes matched by his great big ambition, was a political cartoonist doodling Nixon noses at The San Francisco Chronicle when Zodiac started sending letters and ciphers to the paper, divulging intimate knowledge of the crimes. The first messages arrived in 1969, the year Zodiac shot one young couple and knifed another in separate Northern California counties before moving on to San Francisco, where he put a bullet in the head of a cabbie.

The first cipher stumped an alphabet soup of law enforcement agencies, including the C.I.A. and F.B.I., but was cracked by a California schoolteacher and his wife. The decoded cipher opened with an ominous and crudely effective flourish: “I like killing people because it is so much fun it is more fun than killing wild game in the forrest because man is the most dangeroue anamal.” The letters, the misspellings and the lax punctuation kept coming, and perhaps so did the murders, though only five were substantively linked to him. A publicity hound, Zodiac claimed responsibility for murders he might not have committed, a habit that added to a boogeyman mystery and myth that chroniclers of his crimes, including Mr. Graysmith, have exploited.

Mr. Fincher made his name with “Seven,” a thriller in which the grotesquely mutilated bodies of murder victims are nothing more than lovingly designed props. Although more than capable of adding to the exploitation annals, he is up to something profoundly different in this film, which opens with the shooting of two people parked on a lovers’ lane at night, an attack that is soon followed by a squirmingly visceral knife assault on a couple during a daytime idyll. By front-loading the violence, Mr. Fincher instantly makes it clear just what kind of murderer this was — one who liked to get his hands wet — and ensures that the murders don’t become the story’s payoff, our reward for all the time stamps, geographic shifts, narrative complication and frustrated action.

The story structure is as intricate as the storytelling is seamless, with multiple time-and-place interludes neatly slotted into two distinct sections. The first largely concerns the murders and the investigations; the second, far shorter one involves Graysmith’s transformation of the murders and the investigations into a narrative. With its nicotine browns, the first section, which opens in 1969 and continues through the mid-’70s, looks as if it had been art-directed by a roomful of chain smokers. Dark and moody, like all of Mr. Fincher’s work, this part has been drained of almost all bright colors, save for splashes of yellow, the color of safety and caution, and an alarming-looking blue elixir called an Aqua Velva that is Graysmith’s bar drink of choice.

The second, more vibrantly hued section begins with Graysmith sitting in the Chronicle newsroom, its yellow pillars now painted blue. He looks as bright and bushy-tailed as the day he read Zodiac’s first letter, though now he comes equipped with three kids and a wife (an unfortunately familiar scold whom Chloë Sevigny imbues with some welcome wit). But there are demons still loose, inside and out, which is why Graysmith takes on Zodiac alone, warming up the stone-cold case. Domestic tranquillity, it seems, can’t hold a candle to work, to the fanatical pursuit of meaning and self-discovery, to finding out what makes you and the world tick — which is why, while “Zodiac” contains multitudes (genres, jokes, nods at 1970s New Hollywood), it feels like Mr. Fincher’s most personal film to date.

Maybe that’s why it doesn’t have the usual movie-made shrink- rapping and beard-stroking, as in Mommy was a castrating shrew and Daddy used a two-by-four as a paddle. Throughout the film Mr. Fincher and company keep focus on Zodiac’s crimes, on the nuts and bolts of his deeds, rather than on the nurture and nature behind them. There is no normalizing psychology here, and no deep-dish symbolism either, maybe because the title crazy is so peculiarly fond of symbols, which he sprinkles in his missives and, for one murder, wears superhero style on a black-hooded costume that makes him look like a portly ninja in a Z-movie quickie. It’s no wonder the victims don’t see the threat behind the masquerade until it’s too late.

Psychology isn’t Mr. Fincher’s bag; he isn’t interested in what lies and writhes beneath, but what is right there: the visible evidence. And what beautiful evidence it is. His polished technique can leave you slack-jawed, as can his scrupulous attention to detail: the peeling walls of a derelict building in “Fight Club,” the rows of ant-size letters marching across the pages of a composition notebook in “Seven,” the bruises splashed across a woman’s arm in “Zodiac.” There is mystery in this minutiae, not just virtuosity, and maybe, to judge from reports of his painstaking process, a touch of madness. Like his detectives and journalists, Mr. Fincher seems possessed by the need to recreate reality — to revisit the scene of the crime — piece by piece.

There’s a moment early in the film when Mr. Downey stands in the Chronicle newsroom, back arched and rear gently hoisted, affecting a posture that calls to mind Gene Kelly done up as a Toulouse-Lautrec jockey in “An American in Paris.” Avery has already started his long slip-slide into boozy oblivion, abetted by toots of coke, but as he strides around the newsroom, motored by talent and self-regard, he is the guy everybody else wants to be or wants to have. Like Mr. Ruffalo’s detective, who leaves everything bobbing in his rapid wake, Mr. Downey fills the screen with life that, by its very nature, is a rebuke to the death drive embodied by the Zodiac killer. Rarely has a film with so much blood on its hands seemed so insistently alive.

“Zodiac” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It contains extremely graphic gun and knife violence, as well as alcohol abuse and cocaine use.

Opens today nationwide.

Directed by David Fincher; written by James Vanderbilt, based on the books “Zodiac” and “Zodiac Unmasked” by Robert Graysmith; director of photography, Harris Savides; edited by Angus Wall; music by David Shire; production designer, Donald Graham Burt; produced by Mr. Vanderbilt, Mike Medavoy, Arnold W. Messer, Bradley J. Fischer and Cean Chaffin; released by Paramount Pictures. Running time: 158 minutes.

WITH: Jake Gyllenhaal (Robert Graysmith), Mark Ruffalo (Inspector Dave Toschi), Robert Downey Jr. (Paul Avery), Anthony Edwards (Inspector Bill Armstrong), Brian Cox (Melvin Belli), Elias Koteas (Sgt. Jack Mulanax) and Chloë Sevigny (Melanie).

Inspector Crimes

The Zodiac Killer: Unraveling the Mystery on Screen

Introduction

Dive into the enigmatic tale of “The Zodiac Killer,” a gripping film that masterfully blends horror, mystery, and true crime elements to recount the chilling story of one of America’s most elusive serial killers. Explore the dark history and the cinematic journey that brings this unsolved mystery to life.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Inspector Crimes (@inspectorcrimes)

Background: A Real-Life Horror Story

The real-life Zodiac Killer, a shadow that haunted Northern California in the late 1960s and early ’70s, is a figure shrouded in mystery. The movie draws inspiration from the killer’s enigmatic ciphers and taunting letters, which you can explore in detail at the FBI’s Zodiac Killer case file .

Plot Overview: A Tangled Web of Clues

“The Zodiac Killer” intricately weaves the stories of detectives, journalists, and everyday citizens caught in the web of an elusive predator. The film skillfully portrays the frustrations and obsessions associated with one of America’s most baffling cases. Learn more about the real investigations from San Francisco Chronicle’s coverage.

Cinematic Elements: Crafting Suspense

The film’s use of lighting and shadow creates an atmosphere filled with suspense and unease, a perfect visual representation of the story’s essence. For a deeper understanding of the film’s visual style, check out this analysis of horror cinematography.

Actors and Their Performances in “Zodiac”

“Zodiac,” directed by David Fincher, features a stellar cast whose performances add profound depth to this dark and intricate story. Here’s a look at the key performances:

Jake Gyllenhaal as Robert Graysmith: Gyllenhaal delivers a nuanced performance as Robert Graysmith, a cartoonist turned amateur detective. His portrayal captures Graysmith’s descent into obsession with the Zodiac case, showcasing a blend of vulnerability and determination.
Robert Downey Jr. as Paul Avery: Downey Jr. plays Paul Avery, a reporter covering the Zodiac killings. His portrayal of Avery’s descent from a confident journalist to a man haunted and overwhelmed by the case adds a layer of tragic realism to the film.
Mark Ruffalo as Inspector Dave Toschi: Ruffalo’s portrayal of Inspector Dave Toschi is marked by a subtle intensity. He successfully conveys Toschi’s professionalism and frustration as the case becomes increasingly complex and elusive.
Anthony Edwards as Inspector William Armstrong: Edwards provides a grounded and steady performance as Toschi’s partner. His character acts as a counterbalance to Toschi’s intensity, bringing a sense of calm and rationality to the investigation.

Praise from Critics and Audiences

Zodiac” (2007) received widespread acclaim for its meticulous attention to detail, compelling narrative, and exceptional performances. Critics lauded the film for its suspenseful storytelling and director David Fincher’s unique approach to the true crime genre. The performances of Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., and Mark Ruffalo were particularly praised for their depth and authenticity.

Zodiac Killers Awards and Nominations

While the film did not receive a plethora of awards, its impact was felt strongly in the film community. It garnered nominations from various film festivals and critics’ associations, reinforcing its status as a significant work in Fincher’s filmography and in the true crime genre.

Behind the Scenes Highlights of “Zodiac Killer”

Reopening of the Case: The film’s release prompted the San Francisco Police Department to reopen the Zodiac case, drawing fresh leads and public interest. Explore more about this development at WhatCulture .
David Fincher’s Childhood Connection: Director David Fincher’s childhood in Marin County, near the Zodiac Killer’s area, deeply influenced his decision to direct the film.
Authentic 1970s Recreation: “Zodiac” features meticulous recreation of the 1970s era, enhancing the film’s authenticity.
Detailed Production Process: Known for his attention to detail, Fincher ensured every aspect of the production was accurate and consistent.
Real Cryptograms Used: The film includes actual cryptograms from the Zodiac Killer, adding to its realism.
Filming on Actual Locations: To capture authenticity, “Zodiac” was filmed in locations associated with the Zodiac killer case.

Impact on Popular Culture

This movie has rekindled public interest in the Zodiac case, leading to a resurgence of theories and discussions. The film serves as a haunting reminder of the mysteries that can linger in the shadows of history. Discover more about its cultural impact at Rolling Stone’s feature .

Memorable Quotes from the Movie

“The truth is always stranger than fiction, but in this case, it’s also more terrifying.”
“We’re not just hunting a man; we’re hunting a shadow.”
“Every cipher is a piece of his mind, and we’re here to decode it.”

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Was the Zodiac Killer ever caught? No, the Zodiac Killer’s identity remains unknown. Explore more about the ongoing investigations at The Zodiac Revisited .
How accurate is the film compared to the real events? The film takes creative liberties but stays true to the key elements of the case. For a factual comparison, visit Crime Museum’s Zodiac Killer feature .
What makes the Zodiac Killer unique among serial killers? The Zodiac’s use of ciphers and taunting letters to the media and police set him apart. Learn more about these aspects at Cipher Mysteries .
Where can I learn more about the case? For in-depth information, consider reading Robert Graysmith’s book, “Zodiac,” available here .

“The Zodiac Killer” is not just a film; it’s a haunting journey into a chapter of American history that still puzzles and terrifies. It masterfully captures the essence of one of the most enigmatic figures in true crime history, leaving audiences both captivated and disturbed.

For more extensive coverage and expert analysis of harrowing true crime stories, visit Our True Crime Section . Share your insights, and join the conversation in our comments section. Stay updated – subscribe to our newsletter for the latest in true crime.

The True Story Behind David Fincher’s 'Zodiac' Is More Disturbing Than the Movie

Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, and Jake Gyllenhaal lead this chilling crime thriller.

The Big Picture

David Fincher's film Zodiac is a retelling of the story of the infamous Zodiac killer, who remains unidentified to this day.
The Zodiac killer murdered multiple people in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and sent letters to publications like the San Francisco Chronicle .
The case remains unsolved, with Arthur Leigh Allen being a suspect but never conclusively linked to the crimes.

David Fincher is a master of his craft at the height of his career, boasting several Oscar-nominated modern classics such as Seven , The Social Network , and Fight Club . The 2007 movie Zodiac starring Robert Downey Jr. , Jake Gyllenhaal , and Mark Ruffalo not only joins this lineup of impressive Fincher films, but is also inspired by one of American history's most infamous serial murderers.

Written by James Vanderbilt and based on the books Zodiac and Zodiac Unmasked by Robert Graysmith , who worked as a cartoonist at the San Francisco Chronicle during the murders, the movie follows Jake Gyllenhaal's Graysmith, whose obsession with the Zodiac becomes the focus of its tagline : "There's more than one way to lose your life to a killer." But how much of Graysmith's book and Fincher's movie is true?

Between 1968 and 1983, a San Francisco cartoonist becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac Killer, an unidentified individual who terrorizes Northern California with a killing spree.

The Zodiac Killer Murdered Five People Before the Movie's Opening Scene

The real Zodiac story begins with two Lompoc High School seniors, fiancées Robert Domingos and Linda Edwards . While sunbathing on a beach near Gaviota State Park during their "Senior Ditch Day" in June 1963, the two were bound with rope and were shot eleven and nine times respectively. Their bodies were dragged to a nearby shack where Robert's father found them soon after. Similarly, in October 1966, Cheri Bates left her father a note to say she'd gone to the Riverside City College Library only for her Volkswagen Beetle to be found abandoned there the next day, and her stabbed corpse left between two nearby houses. The local paper received a typed confession from the supposed killer one month later, and the following year, the newspaper, police, and Bates' father all received similar handwritten letters signed "Z." These events wouldn't be linked to the Zodiac killer until years later.

The story continues with more high schoolers, Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday , whose first date took place in December 1968. According to passing motorists, they were parked at a lovers' lane in Benicia before Jensen was found shot in her back in the front seat and Faraday shot in the head outside the vehicle. In Vallejo the following year, married mother Darlene Ferrin parked in another lovers' lane with Michael Mageau . They were approached by a stranger who shot them both. Ferrin died of her injuries but Mageau survived. The killer called the Vallejo Police that night to confess, stating, "I also killed those kids last year. Goodbye." The killing of Darlene Ferrin is where David Fincher's Zodiac begins its story.

Did the Zodiac Killer Really Write to the Newspaper?

On July 31, 1969, three letters were posted to the Vallejo Times-Herald , The San Francisco Chronicle , and The San Francisco Examiner respectively. These were mostly identical, detailing the weapons and ammunition used in the murders. They stated, "I like killing because it's so much fun," and threatened to kill again if the publications refused to publish his attached cipher. Another letter was sent to the Examiner five days later teasing the police for failing to solve the cipher. "When they do crack it, they will have me." This letter features the first use of the name "the Zodiac." San Francisco Chronicle published their cipher, but it didn't stop the killing. The following September, college students Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were both stabbed by a man wearing a hooded costume and the Zodiac symbol. Shepard died of her wounds but Hartnell survived.

One month later, 28-year-old cab driver Paul Stine was shot in the head and had a piece of his shirt removed. SFPD's Dave Toschi investigated the scene and would soon become the inspector most famously related to the case. Toschi's fame and style would go on to inspire movies such as Dirty Harry and Bullitt . Toschi considered Stine's death part of a routine robbery until the killer sent a letter to The San Francisco Chronicle that included the missing piece of Stine's bloodstained shirt to prove his legitimacy. In the movie, the Chronicle's Paul Avery reads the letter, bringing Toschi (Ruffalo), Avery (Downey Jr.), and cartoonist-turned-Zodiac-obsessive Robert Graysmith (Gyllenhaal) together at last.

Zodiac and Paul Avery Became Unlikely Pen-Pals in Real-Life

The Chronicle soon became the Zodiac's primary correspondence for publication, sending them two more letters that year . The letters included ciphers and accounts of the police nearly catching him but ignorantly letting him go. They would go on to receive several more letters from the Zodiac throughout 1970, some denying involvement in recent crimes, others claiming responsibility. Enjoying the fame Avery's articles provided him, the Zodiac demanded in April 1970 that the people of San Francisco's Bay Area wear "Zodiac buttons" featuring his symbol. In July 1970, he complained about the lack of "Zodiac buttons" being worn. The Chronicle decided against publishing a few Zodiac letters at this time, with Avery controlling the narrative himself. As a result, the killer likely became frustrated and began targeting Avery personally .

'Fight Club's Not-So-Secret, Secret Obsession With Starbucks

One year after receiving Paul Stine's bloody clothing in the mail , Avery received a Halloween card that read, "From your secret pal," "Peek-a-boo - you are doomed," and the number "4-teen" implying either the Zodiac had claimed an unidentified fourteenth victim, or that it could be Avery himself. Unlike the movie suggests, there was no bloody cloth in this envelope as Paul Stine's clothing was received the year prior. However, as the movie suggests, this new targeted correspondence directed at Avery specifically (or "Averly" as Zodiac frequently misspelled it) meant that Avery carried a .38-caliber revolver with him at all times after that. The film also correctly notes that Chronicle employees including Avery himself would later wear "I Am Not Avery" buttons as a joke to avoid becoming the Zodiac's next victim.

The Zodiac Case Remains Unsolved

The Zodiac killings seemed to stop in the following years. This was seemingly contradicted by a letter to the Albany Times Union in August 1973 that stated where and when he would kill again. The police failed to identify any murders from that date to relate to the Zodiac, and handwriting experts were unable to verify whether it was even written by the same person. Another letter to the Chronicle in 1974 stated, "Me – 37, SFPD – 0" implying the killer had claimed 37 victims by then and was still at large.

Ultimately, the Zodiac's identity remained a mystery, with Toschi convinced it was Arthur Leigh Allen , a teacher and child molester who had served three years in a mental hospital. Unfortunately for Toschi though, Allen’s fingerprints and handwriting didn’t match the killer’s, and he passed a polygraph test that Allen said went on for 10 hours . Police quietly reopened the case in 1991. 1969's Zodiac survivor Michael Mageau identified Allen from a mugshot in 1991, but the Vallejo police department deemed this to be invalid since, by his own admission, Mageau never got a good look at the gunman at the time. Allen died in 1992. Robert Graysmith would go on to write the book that Fincher's movie was based on, both of which attempt to provide some closure by surmising that Allen was the Zodiac but that he died before the police could question him again after Mageau's supposedly valid statement.

Zodiac is available to watch on Paramount+ in the U.S.

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Obsession Drives Fincher's Look at 'Zodiac' Killer

Bob Mondello

Robert Downey Jr. (left) and Jake Gyllenhaal star as San Francisco Chronicle journalists on the trail of the Zodiac killer in David Fincher's new film. Paramount Pictures hide caption

Robert Downey Jr. (left) and Jake Gyllenhaal star as San Francisco Chronicle journalists on the trail of the Zodiac killer in David Fincher's new film.

Learn about amateur sleuths who are still tracking the Zodiac killer.

Partly because of the stylized visuals he brought with him from the world of music videos, and partly because of the violent subject matter in the films Seven , Fight Club and Panic Room , David Fincher is widely considered one of Hollywood's most inventive suspense-film directors. The filmmaker's fan base now amounts to a cult following, with some viewers seeing his movies dozens of times.

And in Zodiac , which is based on a real-life, San Francisco horror story, Fincher seems intent on providing his fans with new reasons for multiple viewings.

A murder on a lovers' lane gets Zodiac off to a pulse-pounding start. Fincher's camera then takes us on a tour — not of the crime scene, nor of the police investigation — but of the offices of the San Francisco Chronicle , on Aug. 1, 1969.

It's not an aimless tour. The camera is charting the arrival that day of a letter that bears a symbol where the return address should be.

The letter claims credit for the murder we've just seen, as well as another one, offering details and demanding front-page play for a weird cipher — a coded message — to prevent further deaths.

The Chronicle 's crime reporter, Paul Avery, makes a phone call to the police and confirms that the details are right. And a two-decade mystery begins.

The killer would soon be known as the Zodiac, and though all the newspapers give him coverage, he kills again and again, each time sending more ciphers.

The symbols intrigue the Chronicle 's cartoonist, Robert Graysmith, who hovers around the reporter's desk deciphering and offering explanations he has gleaned at the library.

Watching him, you'll detect something a little obsessive about his interest in the story, which means you're getting the film's drift. The real Robert Graysmith got so caught up in the Zodiac murders that he quit cartooning to write the two books on which this movie is based.

Graysmith's onscreen alter ego, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, seems so tightly wound that the filmmakers thought it worth noting at the end that the real Graysmith now has a healthy relationship with his children — a character reference you won't find in most films.

Obsession is the movie's theme: a driving force for the killer, the guys trying to catch him, and of course, for the filmmaker, who is nothing if not a stickler for detail.

In his earlier pictures, Fincher amped up the emotions as he went for your jugular. Here, he's all about what the police think they know, and why they think they know it: evidence, procedure, reconstruction at the crime scenes.

Fincher is so good at keeping info-crammed dialogue crackling, that a whole raft of really smart actors have signed on to work with him: Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Edwards as homicide detectives; Robert Downey Jr., making the crime reporter's boozy paranoia look alarmingly lived-in; Brian Cox hamming it up as showboat lawyer Melvin Belli.

All of them are sharp and period-perfect in a film that doesn't just get the '70s cars and sideburns right, but that actually brings back the style of '70s detective flicks.

There are no tidy, last-minute plot twists to make you feel good in Fincher's Zodiac , just focus — to keep an audience focused — and the most disciplined filmmaking you've seen in forever.

Decades Later, Zodiac Murders Still Draw Sleuths

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So who was the Zodiac killer?

T he tiny island lies just off the western shoreline of Lake Berryessa, north of San Francisco. It is an idyllic spot, perfect for relaxation underneath the lone tree that provides shade from the sun. Last week, as people sunbathed and barbecued yards away, there was no clue to the evil that happened there. No clue except in the name locals now give the place: Zodiac Island.

That name was coined on 27 September 1969, when Cecelia Shepard, 22, and Bryan Hartnell, 20, chose the island as a spot to spend a last lovers' afternoon before they headed off to different colleges. They relaxed in each other's company, taking advantage of low water levels that had temporarily joined the island to the shore. Then the man who became known as the Zodiac struck. He appeared wearing a bizarre hooded top and tied them up at gunpoint. Then he drew a long bayonet-like knife.

'I'm going to have to stab you people,' the masked man said. Hartnell begged to be stabbed first, saying he could not bear to see his girlfriend in pain. The Zodiac complied, skewering Hartnell repeatedly before doing the same to Shepard and ignoring her screams to stop. Then, leaving the bleeding pair behind, the Zodiac calmly walked away, pausing only to write an inscription on Hartnell's car door. It ended simply: 'By knife'.

Lake Berryessa was only one chapter in the Zodiac's reign of terror. He struck repeatedly across the Bay Area around San Francisco in 1968 and 1969. He became one of America's most feared serial killers and perhaps its greatest murder mystery. For the Zodiac has never been caught.

Now America is reliving that dreadful time on the big screen. A Hollywood movie, directed by David Fincher who brought the world the horrifying Se7en, has hit cinemas across America: its brutal depictions of the Zodiac's murders show that he still has the power to shock and scare decades later. It has also cast fresh light on a killer who has become a vital part of America's popular mythology.

'If you grew up in the Bay Area, you had this childhood fear ... you kind of insinuated yourself into it,' Fincher told one interviewer. 'What if the killer showed up in our neighbourhood? Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that three decades later I would be asked to envision a film that would prompt me to retrace the killer's steps with several of the officers who tracked the most notorious killer of my youth. I succumbed to the need to know.'

The Zodiac is America's Jack the Ripper: he struck briefly and brutally, taunted the police and media and then vanished. 'He was the cream of the crop. Most serial killers are caught. He got away with it,' said Professor Jack Levin, a serial killer expert at NorthEastern University in Boston.

Or at least Zodiac has got away with it so far - for the making of the film has brought new leads. Dedicated amateur Zodiac investigators now believe they could be close to finding out who the killer really was. 'This is a solvable case. We have handwriting samples and we have DNA,' said Jake Wark, one of the best-known Zodiac experts.

Zodiac could still be alive. After new evidence was uncovered last month, at least one researcher has identified a suspect living in retirement in northern California. After years of scant progress, the rekindled public fascination could finally crack the case.

The Zodiac killed for the last known time on 11 October 1969. He had picked up a cab driven by Paul Stine. The Zodiac gave an address in the Presidio Heights area of San Francisco and, as the car got to the junction of Washington and Cherry Streets, he shot Stine in the head. Then he tore off a strip of Stine's shirt, soaked it in blood and left the scene.

But the Zodiac had been spotted in the act. A police swoop in the area narrowly missed catching him. It's possible police even stopped him but then let him go after being incorrectly told by a police operator that they were looking for a black man, not a Caucasian. It was a close escape. Stine became his last confirmed victim.

By then, the Zodiac had already turned a city famed for Sixties peace and love into one of death and fear. Before killing Stine, the Zodiac had struck three times, each time targeting couples in secluded areas where lovers often met. He killed David Faraday, 17, and Betty Jensen, 16, on Lake Herman Road in the city of Benicia. Then he shot Michael Mageau, 19, and Darlene Ferrin, 22, in a car park in nearby Vallejo. Then he struck Hartnell and Shepard at Lake Berryessa. Incredibly, two of his victims - Mageau and Hartnell - survived.

Yet it was not the killings that had the biggest impact. It was the way the Zodiac taunted his pursuers. He sent repeated letters, notes and cards to the police, newspapers and even a local lawyer. Introducing himself with the phrase 'This is the Zodiac speaking ...' he would boast of the deaths and claim he was killing in order to create slaves to serve him in paradise. Worse still, the notes contained threats of bombs, explosions and of targeting schoolchildren for mass slaughter.

'He was like a terrorist. That was his motivation. He must have been thinking, "I have brought a city to its knees",' said Curt Rowlett, a writer on serial killers and the occult.

Along with the letters, the Zodiac sent incredibly elaborate coded ciphers, saying they contained the necessary clues to his real identity. Even now, despite the best efforts of military-grade cryptographers, only one of the ciphers has ever been cracked, revealing a rambling treatise on the joys of killing. The first sentence unveiled was: 'I like killing people because it is so much fun.'

There were even more bizarre facets to the Zodiac's letters. He had a fondness for light opera and often quoted lines from The Mikado. His use of astrological symbols forced police to abandon their usual investigative procedures and pore over occult works and astrological charts and even to consult psychics. At one stage the Zodiac sent the San Francisco Chronicle a map of the Bay Area containing a circular compass-like symbol centred on the peak of nearby Mount Diablo.

It also contained numbers and obscure numerical terms. Many researchers believe the Zodiac plotted his attacks to match up the careful design on the map with murders in the real world. 'The cold-bloodedness of recreating something like that design written out in blood on the face of the Earth is just amazing,' said Jake Wark.

That thought has led at least one researcher to describe the Zodiac as a mixture of artist and murderer: a creative genius whose chosen artistic medium was killing people. It is little surprise that, as his letters and missives became infrequent and eventually ceased, the mythology surrounding him grew.

Many experts believe that the last genuine Zodiac letters were sent in 1974. One was a critique of the then recently released horror film The Exorcist. 'I saw and think The Exorcist was the best satirical comedy that I have ever seen,' he wrote. The tone was jokey, confident and defiant. Then the Zodiac went silent.

The blockbuster Zodiac - starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr - is just the tip of a mountain of Zodiac-inspired spin-offs. The original Dirty Harry film, which launched Clint Eastwood into the A-list, was inspired by the Zodiac case. There have been countless articles, documentaries and books about the case, many of them bestsellers.

There are also scores of researchers still investigating the murders. Even now, as the hype around the movie shows, the Zodiac killings suck people in. Many investigators have become obsessive on the minutest details of the crimes, often giving up their jobs and spending tens of thousands of dollars on investigative work. As part of the build-up to the release of Zodiac last month, more than 100 of them gathered at a San Francisco cinema for a 'task force' meeting to take advantage of the publicity from the film's release. The meeting was organised by Tom Voigt, one of the pre-eminent researchers whose website, zodiackiller.com , receives up to four million hits a month. In March that reached 30 million hits as Zodiac was shown in multiplexes across America.

'The interest is huge,' said Voigt. 'On my website I have people from South America, England and Japan and elsewhere. I know people who can guide you around San Francisco's streets like the back of their hand but they have never been there. They just know it from studying the Zodiac.'

Zodiac followers have even had their own film made about them. Called Hunting The Zodiac, the documentary chronicled the lives of some of the people who have devoted themselves to pursuit of the killer. 'It ranges from teens to people in their sixties. It is kind of obsessive, but the Zodiac just attracts these sort of people. It is a fascinating case. I got kind of sucked in myself,' said John Mikulenka, who made the documentary.

The reason is simple. Zodiac's use of ciphers, astrological symbols and clues provides fertile ground for investigation. 'The ciphers are the gateway drug for the amateurs. You start with them and then you are hooked for life,' said Mikulenka. Then there is the fact that Zodiac has never been caught and could now be dead. Like Jack the Ripper, that means everyone can develop a theory and cannot be proved wrong. It also propels the Zodiac into the same fertile ground of the popular American imagination as other modern mystery obsessions like UFOs, the hunt for Bigfoot and the murder of JFK. That has led to some odd theories, with the Zodiac being identified at various times as a member of the Manson family, the Unabomber and a Berkeley university professor. 'It is the ultimate parlour game,' said Rowlett.

But there is a serious edge to this seemingly odd subculture. The only Zodiac cipher ever successfully decoded was cracked not by police but by an amateur husband-and-wife team. Many researchers see themselves as dedicated sleuths, stripping away the conspiracy theories and devoted to the bare facts in a case the police have put on the shelf.

Ed Neil is typical. He lives in Napa, north of San Francisco, and has spent 14 years on the case. His knowledge is exhaustive and meticulous and he says he only deals with the bare facts. 'We are stripping away all the mythology and going back to the original police reports. That is the only way to do this to make sure this can be solved one day,' he said.

But now, in the wake of the film, there is also new evidence to examine. As part of an article about the making of the movie, researchers at the San Francisco Chronicle dug around in their archives. One of them turned up a letter posted in 1990 that had been ignored, a card eerily similar to a Zodiac Halloween message sent in the early Seventies. Both cards had figures on the front promising to reveal their identity but inside refusing to give up the secret. The writing on the new envelope appeared to be the same as other Zodiac letters and, though there was no handwriting inside, it contained an enigmatic black and white photocopy of a set of keys. The postmark was also curious. It was mailed from a town in northern Californian with the suggestive name of Eureka.

The discovery has electrified Zodiac researchers. If the Zodiac was still sending out letters as late as 1990 it would torpedo the idea that he stopped killing because he died or was jailed for another crime. It also raised the idea that he may still be alive.

In fact, that is not without precedent. Though many serial killers carry on until they are caught, a few do 'retire'. Certainly Voigt believes that is what the Zodiac did. He has been investigating the keys, which appear to be linked to a US Postal Service mailbox. He believes he has linked them to an elderly man living in Eureka but who was in the Bay Area at the time of the Zodiac killings and whose background could match that of a killer's profile. Voigt refers to the man by the codename 'Sam'. Voigt has spoken to Sam by phone and sees himself as playing a cat-and-mouse game with the suspect. He is understandably cagey about revealing the specifics of what he has discovered.

'With the information I have, Sam is either the Zodiac or the victim of the most amazing set of circumstances,' Voigt said. 'If he's not the Zodiac, he appears to want me to think he is.' Now Voigt - in the company of a retired police detective - plans to visit Eureka in the next few weeks to meet Sam face to face. 'We are working hard to eliminate him, not incriminate him. But if this was 1970 and the murders were happening we would easily have enough for a search warrant on him.'

Could the Zodiac mystery finally be solved? Perhaps. Sam might prove to be the killer. Or he might be another red herring in a case that has had many of them. One thing is certain: If he is alive, the surge of interest in the killings must please him deeply. For the Zodiac was motivated by fame and power - not, it seems, sex or desperation or anger. He did not sexually assault his victims. He killed both men and women. The Zodiac found becoming feared and famous more satisfying than bloodlust alone.

In the end that may say more about the nature of society than it does about one man's psychosis. 'As a society we give serial killers what they want,' said Levin. 'We put them on T-shirts, trading cards and the front of People magazine. We make them into celebrities.' If he is still alive, it is likely that the Zodiac killer is loving every minute of his new-found fame.

The main players

Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) Crime writer who became obsessed with the Zodiac case. His novels, Zodiac and Zodiac Unmasked, serve as the film's source material.

Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jnr) The Chronicle's senior crime reporter. Takes the stereotype of the hard-living journalist to extremes.

Inspector Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) Leading investigator and the inspiration behind Dirty Harry.

Melanie (Chloe Sevigny) Graysmith's girlfriend sees his obsession with the case infect their relationship.

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Zodiac (2007) Movie Ending and Themes Explained: Is Arthur Leigh Allen the Zodiac Killer?

Recounting the tale of an elusive serial killer, an obsessed cartoonist, and an intelligent police investigator, David Fincher’s exceptional crime thriller, “Zodiac (2007),” became one of the best movies of the century. Fincher outdid himself as he picked up the script centered around the ominous killings of locals in the San Francisco Bay Area during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Despite the meticulously executed investigations, the identity of the killer, to this date, remains unknown.

Fincher, with his knack for crafting unconventional stories that dive into the complexities of the human mind, created a bone-chilling plot that exposes the wild side of the human mind. Consistent with his preferred selection of themes, this flick once again took a unique take on obsession, much like his past works. With movies about obsessive murderers, such as Se7en and Gone Girl , the director manifests a pattern in his creative techniques. His films primarily consist of protagonists who are fixated on a motive that drives them forward to the unthinkable depths of untamed human behavior. Most of his work resonates with a recursive pattern in terms of storytelling. Though dynamic and appreciable, the characters in his movies are merely a means to dictate and carry the plot, which has a higher purpose when it comes to exposing the vision of societal darkness.

“Zodiac” presents the tale of the investigations that occurred to catch the dark-minded, gruesome killer who made homicide look like a crooked game that screamed ‘Catch me if you can.’ The film revolves around Robert Graysmith ( Jake Gyllenhaal ), a cartoonist working at the “Chronicle,” who gets fascinated by the unresolved murder mystery and is determined to expose the serial killer’s true identity. Along with him, Fincher put two more significant actors in the frame: Robert Downey Jr. as Paul Avery, who works as a crime reporter, and Mark Ruffalo as Dave Toschi, a police inspector assigned to the ‘Zodiac’ case.

In addition to that, “Zodiac” is regarded highly in terms of its exalted cinematic achievements. The stunning transition from the late ’60s to the early ’70s is immaculately smooth with legit references. The locations and set production were all a product of descriptions collected from natives and individuals closely associated with the region and helped shape the tangible face of Fincher’s imagination. Rather than focusing heavily on the serial killer’s crimes, the movie offers a detailed look into the decades-long investigations that took place. Lengthy scenes with extended dialogues were captured well in the broad frames of the film, stretching its perception and offering a peek into the eventful investigations regarding the ‘Zodiac’ case. Dark, vibrant tones add more to the beauty of the film, highlighting its adherence to the uncanny plot and, most importantly, the mind of Robert Graysmith.

Zodiac (2007) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:

“the most dangerous animal of them all”.

The film begins with a couple driving to the lover’s lane on the night of the 4th of July. The two are talking when they see a car approaching them, stopping behind them, and then leaving. Seconds later, it reappears, and this time, a man comes out and shoots the couple, leaving shock waves in the audience. However, the young guy named Mike survives the shootout. At the office of “The San Francisco Chronicle,” a month later, unsettling chaos emerges with the arrival of anonymous letters, encrypted by a killer who calls himself the ‘Zodiac.’

He claims to have his identity hidden in the ciphers and asks them to publish it, warning that he’d kill a dozen more people if they don’t comply. At the Chronicle’s office, Robert Graysmith, a cartoonist, takes a keen interest in the Zodiac case and vaguely mentions that the killer’s identity won’t be found in this cipher. Being a subordinate, he is ignored by the editorial staff and Paul Avery, the paper’s crime reporter. Days later, after the codes are published in the newspapers, a couple cracks the code and sends the Chronicle the decoded letter.

After reading the letter, Avery gets back to Graysmith, intrigued by his guess about Zodiac’s unrevealed identity. Graysmith reads the letter and begins to think about the clues mentioned in his letter. After thinking hard, Graysmith reveals that Zodiac references the film “The Most Dangerous Game.” This film features a character named Mark Zaroff who hunts people for sport, inferring that the mentioned phrase “The most dangerous animal of all” is man himself.

The Prime Suspect: Arthur Leigh Allen

After the initial decoding, the Zodiac remains silent for two weeks until another murder occurs. Zodiac sends pieces of bloodstained cloth belonging to the victim Paul Stine, a taxi driver shot in the Presidio Heights districts, to the Chronicle. Later on, Inspectors Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and Bill Armstrong (Anthony Edwards) are assigned to lead the Zodiac Case and begin investigating the crime scene. The anonymous letters from Zodiac never stop arriving.

Meanwhile, Dave Toschi gets a call about someone claiming to be Zodiac who wants to call on the Jim Dunbar show and talk to lawyer Melvin Belli for counsel. As the killer gets on the line, he takes deep breaths and introduces himself as the Zodiac. The police try to trace his call while he opens up about his headaches and that he doesn’t want to go to the gas chamber. Belli tries to engage and make him agree to meet him later, but nothing comes out of that interaction.

In 1971, Toschi, Armstrong, and Mulanax visit a suspect in the Vallejo case named Arthur Leigh Allen. Throughout the interrogation, Allen remains calm and keeps on giving logical explanations for his links with the case. Toschi notices he is wearing a watch with “Zodiac” written on its dial. Allen claims it was a present from his mother. Toschi, for some reason, is not convinced and sends Zodiac’s letters to the handwriting expert. Shockingly, his writing doesn’t match Allen’s even though he is ambidextrous, and Toschi runs out of evidence that goes against Allen.

Graysmith’s Unbound Obsession

Paul Avery, the crime reporter, receives death threats from Zodiac. He slowly falls into drug addiction after arguing with the police inspectors about the Zodiac. His condition worsens, taking a toll on his sanity and causing him to move to Sacramento Bay by 1978. On the other hand, Robert Graysmith, the cartoonist, cannot get the Zodiac out of his head. He does not settle for the slow progress in the investigation and begins his search. He approaches Toschi, who is already drifting apart from the case and convinces him of new leads concerning the case. Graysmith impresses Toschi by revealing the missing library record of the cipher-related books.

Toschi tells him that he cannot help him directly as he doesn’t have the authority, so he directs him to other police stations where the Zodiac investigations are taking place. While investigating, Graysmith finds new leads, one about the killer’s connection to Darlene and anonymous phone calls that were made to the victim before she was murdered. To learn more about the phone calls, Graysmith visits Belli and discovers that the Zodiac called his house on December 18th, saying it was his birthday, so he must kill. Since no one died around that date, Graysmith believes it is a dead end and leaves this detail.

His unhealthy obsession with the zodiac continues, resulting in him falling apart from his wife and family. He also receives anonymous phone calls where the person on the other end of the line just breathes heavily. One night, he gets an anonymous tip about the Zodiac. The man on the phone tells him Zodiac’s name is ‘Rick Marshall.’ Graysmith follows the tip and ends up visiting Linda, a suspect who may identify Rick Marshall. She discloses that the strange guy at the party who scared Darlene was known as Leigh, not Rick.

Zodiac (2007) Movie Ending Explained:

Is arthur leigh allen the zodiac killer.

Linda’s information convinces Graysmith that Allen must be the Zodiac, but none of the police investigators cooperate with him. He realizes that his hands are tied and that he cannot proceed with this case. His wife Melanie (Chloe Sevigny) stops by his house to drop off divorce papers, and Graysmith is left contemplating that his obsession has cost him his family. As he goes through the files, he discovers Arthur Leigh Allen’s driving license, where his date of birth is mentioned, which is December 18, a date Zodiac confessed was his birthday. He rushes to Toschi’s house in the heavy rain and screams frantically, grabbing his attention.

The two head to a diner, where Graysmith tells him about all possible connections between Arthur Leigh Allen and the murder cases. He explains Allen’s life during the years when the criminal activities were actively going on. Allen molested a child, and the manhunt started eight months after that incident. After the police interviewed him, he left the country for three years, and the letters stopped. Allen began sending letters again when the police decisively moved away from him. And as he got arrested for four more years, the letters stopped coming and were only received four years later when he got out of jail in 1977.

Five years later, in 1983, Graysmith visits a hardware store in Vallejo, where Allen is working as a salesman. He stands opposite Allen, facing him directly. Allen politely asks if he can help him with anything, and Graysmith says, “No.” The two stare at each other, silently weighing one another, and the audience can sense the tension between them.

Seven and a half years pass (1991), and the scene displays a bookshelf on the Ontario International Airport where Robert Graysmith’s book “Zodiac” is sitting as a best-seller. In a room, Mike Mageau is being interviewed by the police. As a survivor of the unresolved murder case, he is shown photographs of several criminals and is asked to identify the one he thinks is the Zodiac. He points at Arthur Leigh Allen’s picture. He also states that on a scale of 10, he is positive to an eight and that he is the one who attacked him on the 4th of July.

Before the ending credits roll, the audience is shown a black screen where text appears. It is written that before the police could charge Allen with the Zodiac’s crimes, he died of a heart attack. Moreover, a DNA sample run in 2002 failed to match Allen’s. The case was officially shut down in 2004, but at the time of the film’s release, it remained open in Napa Country, Solano County, and Vallejo. Robert Graysmith also revealed that he had never received anonymous phone calls since Allen’s death.

How Can Allen Leigh Arthur Be the Zodiac Killer?

There is enough evidence against Arthur Leigh Allen that screams that he is the culprit in the Zodiac case. The first evidence against him is his Zodiac watch, which points to his link to the name. The military boots and gloves that are found on the crime scenes also match his size, not to forget the timeline of murders and the anonymous letters coinciding with Allen’s whereabouts. Besides that, his love for the book “The Most Dangerous Game” and misspelled ‘Christmas’ spellings make him the prime suspect in the case. He also lived close to Darlene, about 50 yards away. Darlene’s friends confess that the strange guy they know is called “Lee.”

Why Arthur Leigh Allen Wasn’t Arrested?

Arthur Leigh Allen was never arrested for his crimes because of the lack of physical evidence. Graysmith collected enough circumstantial evidence but couldn’t prove it in court. The fingerprints and handwriting did not match Arthur’s, leaving him both innocent and untouchable.

Zodiac (2007) Major Themes Analysed

Obsession and passion.

Passionate characters like Robert Graysmith are some of the most obsessive characters who do not abandon the case of the elusive killer, even when they fear it’ll be a dead-end. Despite being a cartoonist and an unofficial investigator, Graysmith’s dedication to the case is due to pure passion. Furthermore, he has to give up his family for his obsession, yet he doesn’t think twice before investing the most important years of his life in getting information about the killer. Paul Avery is another character who is consumed by the Zodiac case. His paranoia and addiction get the best of him, and it all starts with the Zodiac’s warning.

Role of Media

Media plays an integral role throughout the film, investigating and determining its turn to chase the culprit. The Zodiac Killer sends anonymous messages to the newspaper The Chronicle and reveals his plans and proceedings through them. It served as the only means to spread public awareness about a serial killer on the loose and allowed the case to be studied further.

Law and Justice

The criminal investigations and Graysmith’s obsession with the case are all for bringing justice. Inspectors, journalists, and people from all other sectors have one goal in common: finding answers in this case so that justice can be served. Additionally, the boundaries of law enforcement play a vital role in determining the fate of Arthur Leigh Allen. Lack of evidence, and America’s law of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ works in the killer’s favor. Despite having enough circumstantial evidence, there isn’t much that could be done to arrest the killer.

Zodiac (2007) Movie Links: IMDb , Rotten Tomatoes , Wikipedia The Cast of Zodiac (2007) Movie: Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo Zodiac (2007) Movie Genre: Crime, Drama | Runtime: 2h 37 Mins

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Zodiac (United States, 2007)

Zodiac is a police procedural - a sort of souped-up, ultra-long episode of Law & Order . Based on the 1986 "true crime" book by Robert Graysmith, the movie looks back on one of the nation's most sinister unsolved crimes: the Northern California serial killings by the so-called "Zodiac killer." Although no arrest was ever made and the case now resides on the SFPD's inactive list, many journalists, cops, and investigators had their own "favorite" candidates for the identity of Zodiac. The movie follows the hunt by cartoonist-turned-writer Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) as he seeks to unmask the villain.

To its credit, Zodiac is faithful to its source material. However, from a stylish director like David Fincher, the straightforward, no-frills approach is a little bit of a letdown. The digital photography is sharp, but there's nothing remarkable about it. There's no sense of the cinematic flair that has marked Fincher's previous efforts (even Alien 3 , for all of its faults, was visually dynamic). One can count on one hand the number of flourishes apparent during the nearly three-hour running time.

During its first hour, Zodiac unfolds along three parallel trajectories. The killer systematically eliminates victims (the crimes are re-enacted based on the survivor testimony contained in Graysmith's book). The police, led by detectives Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and Bill Armstrong (Anthony Edwards) investigate and collect clues. And newspaper people like Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.) and Graysmith fill the papers with speculation and fact. Then, a little more than a third of the way through the book, the Zodiac killer's spree stops and the movie chronicles Graysmith's obsessive hunt to uncover his identity. He conducts interviews, pours over old files, and eventually comes up with the perfect suspect: Arthur Leigh Allen (John Carroll Lynch), who is damned by circumstantial evidence.

Zodiac does not promise an impartial perspective of the search for the killer. Since it's based on Graysmith's book, it represents the author's viewpoint and the facts are slanted in favor of his preferred suspect. Whether Allen was the Zodiac killer or not is something we'll never know (he died more than a decade ago), but the film stacks the deck in his favor to avoid being completely open ended. Certainly, few who see this film will leave the theater frustrated by the real-world fact that the case remains unsolved.

That Zodiac draws conclusions isn't its problem (to the degree that it has a problem) - the structure is. While the killer is active and the police investigation is in full throttle, there's tension and momentum. It's a cat-and-mouse game. But when the focus shifts to Graysmith, the film shifts into neutral. While there's a certain amount of fascination associated with following an investigator tracking down disintegrating leads and digging through mounds of old records, it's not cinematic, and this at times makes the second half of Zodiac sluggish. Fincher's attempts to create tension (anonymous phone calls with heavy breathing, a creepy film buff who might be dangerous) inject suspense, but the intensity level is low. As thrillers go, most of Zodiac is more of a slow burn than an explosion - not necessarily a bad thing, but it requires patience. The running length is problematic. Fincher is so determined to meticulously recreate Graysmith's investigation that he risks losing his audience. There are numerous dramatically effective sequences during the second half, but the uneven pace results in stagnant periods.

So where is Fincher in all of this? Zodiac has a generic look and feel that is at variance with what we have come to expect from the director. Even Fincher's early music videos had more style than this. That's not to say that the film's direction is inept. Technically, it's fine and there are some nice helicopter shots (and a nifty time lapse sequence of a building being constructed), but there's nothing special about it. It's as if Fincher is saying, "Look! I can do regular stuff too!" There was more menace and atmosphere in Spike Lee's Summer of Sam , another film about a real-life serial killer.

The performances, like Fincher's direction, are competent. Jake Gyllenhaal is understated as usual, but that's appropriate for his low-key character. As Graysmith's obsession grows, Gyllenhaal comes alive. Mark Ruffalo is very good at being petulant but has trouble with sincerity. Robert Downey Jr. once again plays the flamboyant rogue with alcohol/substance abuse problems. Art imitating life, I suppose, but he can do this kind of role in his sleep. Arguably, the best performance belongs to John Carroll Lynch who captures Allen's creepiness without doing anything overt. Brian Cox steals a few scenes as Melvin Belli (he even gets to make a Star Trek reference).

Although the entirety of the movie spans 22 years, from 1969 until 1991, the majority of the scenes transpire in 1969 and the early '70s, and the film is at its most effective during those years. Zodiac becomes fragmented when it starts lurching ahead to highlight the "big moments" in Graysmith's investigation. It's difficult to be too harsh on Zodiac because the subject is interesting (such is often the case with serial killers) and it is fascinating to observe as the investigatory pieces fall into place. Ultimately, however, the length and uneven pacing are stumbling blocks with which an audience must contend. Patient viewers will be rewarded; others may wish for something with less subtlety and more verve.

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As David Fincher's 2007 thrilling true story movie Zodiac notes, the identity of the real Zodiac Killer has been a decades-long mystery, so who was the murderer? Throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, the residents of Northern California found themselves plagued by the threat of the mysterious Zodiac Killer. The unknown murderer killed five people, injured two others, and claimed to have 37 victims to his name. What made the story all the more terrifying was the fact that the killer sent taunting letters and cards to the local press, often through cryptograms that remain unsolved to this day.

Close to 50 years later and the identity of the Zodiac Killer remains one of the great unsolved mysteries of American crime. Endless books have been written on the subject and the case remains a favorite with amateur detectives and true crime aficionados. It also regularly pops up in various forms of pop culture, from casual jokes to deep-dive explorations to horror retellings of a story that is already horrific. The most notable of these is David Fincher ’s 2007 mystery thriller Zodiac .

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What made Zodiac so notable, other than its incredible direction and ensemble of actors, was its source material. The film used the work of Robert Graysmith as its basis to tell a familiar story from a new angle. Graysmith, who is played by Jake Gyllenhaal in the movie, was a political cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle at the time when the Zodiac Killer became prominent. He quickly, by his own admission, became obsessed with the case and dedicated years of his life to trying to solve it. Today, he is a full-time true-crime writer who has written books on a number of high-profile cases, such as the death of actor Bob Crane and the hunt for the Unabomer .

It is in Graysmith's book that the theory is posited of the Zodiac Killer being Arthur Leigh Allen, a conclusion the author came to, based on circumstantial evidence. Fincher's Zodiac certainly portrays him as a likely suspect (and a deeply scary person), but was that true? How much of the Zodiac 's true story is portrayed correctly in the movie?

How Accurate Zodiac's Cast Is To The Real People

Zodiac has been celebrated by critics for its incredible attention to detail and the historical accuracy with which it tells its story, a trait that has defined Fincher as a director. This is particularly notable in its depiction of the individuals involved with the case. While Jake Gyllenhaal doesn’t look much like Robert Graysmith, he does capture the man’s obsessive focus on the Zodiac case and how it led to the disintegration of his marriage and relations with his children. The Zodiac movie even ends with a postscript noting that Graysmith’s relations with his kids nowadays are far better.

Zodiac is less accurate in regards to Paul Avery, as played by Robert Downey Jr. Avery was a celebrated journalist who, after the Zodiac case, would go on to cover the Patty Hearst kidnapping. In the movie, Graysmith is shown having a close collaborative relationship with him for the Zodiac case, which was untrue. Many of Avery's former friends and colleagues have taken umbrage with how Zodiac portrayed him as a man broken by his inability to crack the Zodiac case. Avery is shown drunk and abusing drugs and his career in ruins the last time Graysmith sees him, none of which was true. Avery’s career continued well into the 1990s until his retirement and he even wrote a book on the Hearst case.

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Dave Toschi, the San Francisco Police detective who worked on the Zodiac case, was already a major pop culture influence before Fincher's movie. His personal style and prominence as an investigator at the time saw him become the basis for Steve McQueen's character in Bullitt and the eponymous Dirty Harry, a film whose own bad guy was inspired by the Zodiac Killer. (Fincher's Zodiac even shows Toschi - played by Mark Ruffalo - watching Dirty Harry in a theater and having trouble with it.)

The Zodiac movie shows Toschi as a dedicated detective and inspiration to Graysmith but one who was also haunted by the case. Toschi was famously demoted and taken off the Zodiac case after being accused of sending fake Zodiac letters. What Zodiac does not show is how Toschi also sent multiple anonymous letters to the famed writer Armistead Maupin, wherein he admired his own efforts as a detective. This had a bigger effect on the end of his career than the supposedly forged Zodiac letter (he was later exonerated of writing that letter but some experts disagreed with that verdict).

Everything Zodiac Gets Right About The True Story

Zodiac is one of the most accurate true crime movies ever made, not least of which is its depiction of San Francisco during the time of the Zodiac murders. The filmmakers compiled as extensive a report on the crimes and their surrounding investigation as was possible for a Hollywood production, getting access even to old police files. Aside from the aesthetic of the film, from recreating victims' clothing to the smoke-filled offices of the San Francisco Chronicle, Zodiac goes to great lengths to accurately depict what happened to the victims, including copying, beat-for-beat, what the Zodiac's attacks were like.

Bryan Hartnell, who survived being stabbed multiple times by the Zodiac Killer in an attack that killed his friend Cecelia Shepard, admitted that Fincher's recreation of that day was so spot on that he couldn't have scripted it better himself. The only incorrect detail was that the movie showed them as a romantic couple when they were just good friends. Other details the Zodiac movie gets right about the true story is the suspect, Arthur Leigh Allen, wearing a watch with the zodiac symbol on it; a police officer (Don Fouke) passing the Zodiac Killer without knowing it was him until later on (due to the original description being for a black male instead of a white male); and the Zodiac Killer mailing a piece of the taxi driver's shirt to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper. Much of what is presented in Fincher's Zodiac movie is true to what happened in real life, with only minor details being changed or dramatized.

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What Zodiac Leaves Out About What Happened

As with any film that dramatizes real-life events, Zodiac condenses and removes certain elements for cinematic effect. Paul Avery's arc is a good example of this, as well as the high-profile suspects investigated at the time who weren't Arthur Leigh Allen. What Zodiac is so good at, however, is in showing proper respect to the victims, the investigators, and the overall case that proved so gripping while also being highly misrepresented over the decades.

The condensing of these details account for those moments where the accuracy isn't complete. A scene featuring Ione Skye as Kathleen Johns shows the woman and her baby being picked up by a mysterious man in his car who then said he was going to kill them both. Johns escaped and later recognized the man from a composite sketch of the Zodiac killer on a Wanted poster. In a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Zodiac claimed responsibility for these events. What is not depicted in Zodiac is that Johns's account of that evening's events varied between her telling it to police and recounting it for the San Francisco Chronicle. Doubts have been raised over the years as to whether the Johns attack was truly the work of the Zodiac Killer or if he was simply taking credit for another person’s work.

Was Arthur Leigh Allen The Zodiac Killer?

The man positioned as the most likely suspect in the Zodiac case by Fincher’s movie and Graysmith’s book is Arthur Leigh Allen. The extensive circumstantial evidence is shown in the movie, including his Zodiac brand watch which contained the symbol that appeared on each Zodiac letter. The Zodiac movie ends with Allen being identified as the killer by Mike Mageau, one of the survivors. Allen was a convicted child molester who served jail time for his crimes; he died in 1992 of heart and kidney failure related to diabetes. In 2002, a partial fingerprint was discovered on a stamp attached to one of the Zodiac Killer's letters, which included some DNA. The results of tests conducted on this DNA did not match Allen (via SF Weekly ). Robert Graysmith was quick to note that the DNA was most likely compromised after 30+ years in storage.

Aside from Mageau's identification of Arthur Leigh Allen, the lion's share of evidence connecting Allen to the Zodiac case was circumstantial. More solid details such as DNA, fingerprints, and handwriting samples did not match him. While the Zodiac movie does note this, it is clear in the eyes of the narrative, as dictated by Graysmith's book, that Allen is the most likely culprit to these murders. To this day, the case remains unsolved. Various experts, amateur detectives, and true-crime reports have put forward other suspects, ranging from convicted murderer Edward Wayne Edwards to George Hodel, one of the prime suspects in the Black Dahlia murder , to Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber. As Fincher’s Zodiac proved, it is a case that will continue to fascinate, infuriate, and terrify for decades to come.

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Zodiac (2007)

The Definitives

Critical essays, histories, and appreciations of great films

Essay by Brian Eggert October 4, 2015

From the late 1960s to early 1970s and beyond, Zodiac Killer hysteria rattled the San Francisco Bay Area of northern California. With several confirmed attacks and numerous others attributed to his name, the self-titled Zodiac claimed to have 37 victims; however, just three men and two women died by either gunshot or stabbing, while another two were seriously injured but escaped. The murders themselves were frightening enough, but then on August 1, 1969, the Zodiac began to write letters to newspapers, and their coverage launched the hysteria to a new level of mania. Not since Jack the Ripper had a killer written the press and teased authorities with hints to his identity. The San Francisco Chronicle , San Francisco Examiner , and Vallejo Times-Herald each received letters with specific information only the killer could know, cryptograms that when deciphered revealed a feverish rant, and most signed with either the zodiac symbol (crosshairs) or his name (“Dear Editor: This is the Zodiac speaking…”). Whether their author mocked the police’s inability to catch him, claimed to be collecting slaves for the afterlife, or promised to shoot children on a school bus, Zodiac’s published correspondence resulted in frantic reactions from authorities and the public. The coverage even led to a response in popular culture, when Hollywood used the Zodiac for inspiration in Dirty Harry (1971), and therein delivered a catharsis that would never come. As the letters stopped after 1974 and the killings four years earlier, the panic died down, albeit without resolution. The Zodiac investigation remained open without a single arrest or even conclusive suspect, and remains open still, a mystery that continues to consume investigators yet will remain forever unsolved.

An all-consuming need to disentangle an unsolvable mystery impels David Fincher’s masterful procedural, Zodiac . James Vanderbilt based his true-crime script on Robert Graysmith’s nonfiction investigations of the case, Zodiac: The Full Story of the Infamous Unsolved Zodiac Murders in California (1986) and Zodiac Unmasked: The Identity of America’s Most Elusive Serial Killer (2002). Vanderbilt’s screen story does not offer artificial solutions, nor does it provide answers to questions the 2007 film could not possibly answer. Over nearly three hours and covering over three decades from 1969 to 1991, Fincher wraps viewers in the same insatiable, unsatisfied obsession that drives its four central characters—among them the unlikely Graysmith, a shy cartoonist and Eagle Scout—to keep searching for answers long after the Zodiac has disappeared from the spotlight. Fincher ensures our investment in the murders by reenacting them in virtuoso scenes of fearsome tension informed by a shocking degree of factual realism. But then, the film also saturates our minds with fastidious details: the names of victims, dates, and locations of crimes, bits of evidence, a list of suspects, telling connections between clues, breakthroughs and obstructions in the case, and even a red herring or two. He reverberates his characters’ obsessions onto the audience, instilling how the investigators were overcome by the Zodiac case—how it represented a far-reaching importance over all other aspects of their lives and a sense of personal significance to resolve, while also alienating them from their friends and family until they reached the brink. Through it all, they never achieve unequivocal proof and the case is never categorically closed.

The project had been a passion of Vanderbilt’s since he read Graysmith’s first book in high school. The screenwriter arranged with Phoenix Pictures to write a spec script based on Graysmith’s writings, while they secured the rights. Fincher was their first choice to direct, based on his previous experience. But Fincher himself had a close relationship with the killer already, having grown up in the San Francisco Bay Area around the time the Zodiac was active. “If you grew up there, at that time, you had this childhood fear that you kind of insinuated yourself into,” he said. “What if it was our bus? What if he showed up in our neighborhood? You create even more drama about it when you’re a kid because that’s what kids do.” Though no victims were killed in Fincher’s hometown of Marin, he said, “When you’re in grade school, children don’t think about that. They think, ‘He’s going to show up at our school.’” Because of his experience with the hysteria around the mythologized killer, Fincher set out to dispel the myth. Along with Vanderbilt, of whom Fincher requested a script re-write to include more factual information, the director spent more than a year researching details of the case to prepare. He read thousands of pages of evidence; he interviewed survivors, loved ones of victims, and policemen involved in the investigation; he talked to the prime suspect’s family; he reviewed the site of every crime. His obsession would eventually mirror that of his film’s characters, who succumb to their own terrible need to know.

Nearly a month after this shooting, the Zodiac’s first letters arrive at the San Francisco Chronicle and other papers, and self-destructive journalist Paul Avery, brilliantly played by Robert Downey, Jr., begins his famous coverage of the story. Accustomed to covering the beat, Avery sees through Zodiac’s scheme and manipulation of the media, later remarking, “More people die on the East Bay commute in three months than that idiot ever killed.” Avery’s scenes in the newspaper room recall those in Alan J. Pakula’s political thriller All the President’s Men (1976), where editors question the consequences of publishing Zodiac stories and letters, especially given his clear need for attention. After all, they could be encouraging him, but perhaps that’s what he wants. But not until San Francisco taxicab driver Paul Stine is murdered are SFPD Inspectors David Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and William Armstrong (Anthony Edwards) brought onto the case. Before this, Zodiac’s killings seemed reduced to “Vallejo farm kids”. Toschi and Armstrong must now manage the Bay Area’s growing panic. They’re pulled along with Zodiac’s careful bid for media attention, such as his televised interview with quasi-celebrity Attorney Melvin Belli (Brian Cox) on a talk show. All the while, the growing list of 2,300 suspects is gradually interviewed by detectives, many of them cleared by a handwriting expert, Sherwood Morrill (Phillip Baker Hall). After years of investigating, Armstrong, unwilling to play Zodiac’s game and frustrated by their lack of progress, resolves to move on from homicide. The media and internal affairs eventually turn on Toschi, accusing him of propelling and tampering with the case. And Avery, who sees Zodiac as “good for business,” descends on a downward spiral of substance abuse and hits bottom once the Zodiac’s letters stop arriving at his paper.

Filming of Zodiac began in September of 2005 and wrapped the following February, but the film would not be released for more than a year due to extensive post-production requirements. For the first time, Fincher used digital cameras, shooting in dark lighting conditions with a Thomson Viper Filmstream Camera that allows for a crisp image (although, some extreme slow-motion scenes still required the use of celluloid). Cinematographer Harris Savides had worked with Fincher on Se7en and The Game , but never used digital HD photography on one of Fincher’s films; he was told to expressly avoid the look of those films for Zodiac . Quite the opposite of Fincher’s other work, there’s a visual restraint throughout the picture. The director recreates the grainy, washed-out colors of 1970s cinema by underexposing or color-timing his shots, creating moodier interiors and clearer nighttime scenes. Of course, many night images and pressroom colors match those of All the President’s Men , while other evidence of Fincher’s usual technical mastery is more recessive. Take how Zodiac recreates the landscape of the period. Buildings and skylines that no longer exist due to land development and gentrification in San Francisco in subsequent years are recreated using flawlessly integrated CGI—over 200 visual effects shots in all, so seamlessly integrated the viewer never notices them. We simply accept the environment of the film as the Bay Area of the 1960s and ’70s, which was reconstructed using photographs from the era. Even an artificially created, increased frame-rate sequence showing the development of San Francisco looks as though Fincher went back in time and used a time-lapse camera over the course of several years to render the shot.

As suggested, Fincher’s visual style is restrained in Zodiac —far less expressive than his earlier work, but also more sophisticated in his methodical approach. Consider just the attack on September 27, 1969, in Napa County at Lake Berryessa. Fincher turns a lakeside getaway with two Pacific Union College students, Bryan Hartnell (Patrick Scott Lewis) and Cecelia Shepard (Pell James), into a horrifying, unforgettable scene. Appearing in a black hood bearing the crosshairs Zodiac symbol, a figure claiming to be an escaped convict interrupts the two and announces plans to rob them. He ties the two up, but rather than take their money, he begins stabbing them. However, Fincher does not cut around the penetration of knife into flesh like the implied stabbings in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1968); he shows the force of the Zodiac’s body, the impact of the knife, and Shepard’s hair-raising screams. We cannot imagine their horror and pain as their attacker leaves them to inscribe his symbol on their car, parked up the road, and then later call in his anonymous confession. Somehow, Hartnell survived the attack. Shepard was not so lucky. Our fascination with true-crime becomes a matter of our equal measures of terror and curiosity about the truth of Zodiac : Terror derives from the horrible reality of these crimes, which Fincher shoots in unforgiving, meticulous detail. None of the murders shown onscreen were filmed without surviving witnesses providing the filmmakers essential details. Knowing Fincher’s adherence to such precise filmmaking makes the film’s murder sequences even more visceral and, as much as cinema can provide, real.

Fincher’s elaborately shot murder sequences and subtle technical genius underscore the intricacy of the case at the center of Zodiac , but this is also an extremely funny film at times. Avery’s character allows Downey, Jr. to display his signature wit, egoism, and sarcasm in a role before his repopularization in the Marvel Universe. Ever likable, Ruffalo makes Toschi’s eccentricities amusing, such as his need for animal crackers in the car. Edwards delivers expert deadpan in his responses to some of the hundreds of interviewed crackpots claiming to be the Zodiac. But much of the humor revolves around Graysmith’s introverted characteristics, and how well Gyllenhaal uses his youth to accentuate the characters’ blind innocence. Arriving at the office one day, Graysmith asks The Chronicle ‘s coffee man Shorty (James Carraway), “Does it ever bother you that people call you ‘Shorty’?” Without missing a beat, Shorty fires back, “Does it ever bother you that people call you ‘retard’?” Gyllenhaal’s face goes pale, “Nobody calls me that…” and walks away. In the next scene, Graysmith brings Avery a coffee and, clearly feeling sensitive, asks, “Does anyone ever call me names?” Avery shoots back, “You mean like ‘retard’?” “Yeah,” says Graysmith. Avery looks at him, “No.” More than just a humorous aside, the scene demonstrates Graysmith’s outsider status at the paper—something of a weirdo who fixates on the Zodiac case. With his infatuated personality, Graysmith might have developed into a role not unlike Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler (2014), if not for the character’s rigid moral backbone.

And yet, without the finality of the case being closed, the Zodiac lingers. The available evidence (some concrete, some less so), Allen’s behavior under questioning, and most importantly their instincts tell the film’s viewer Allen is the Zodiac. But Toschi isn’t Dirty Harry, a character that, along with Steve McQueen’s role in Bullet (1968) and Michael Douglas on the TV series The Streets of San Francisco (1972-1977), was based on Toschi. He cannot follow his instinct, show up at Allen’s Fresno Street home, and put a bullet in his head. This is true-crime, not an escapist Hollywood production. What it comes down to is cold, hard, unromantic evidence. Not until 1991, when new evidence had mounted, did authorities consider making an arrest. Bombs had been taken from under Allen’s home, survivors Mike Mageau (Jimmi Simpson) and Don Cheney (John Hemphill) both implicate Allen, and countless other clues all lead to Allen as their man. Alas, Allen died of a heart attack before any such arrest could be made. Nevertheless, Graysmith and Toschi believe Allen is the killer. In some sense, Fincher adopts the position of Graysmith’s books and ends the film with the belief that Allen was the Zodiac Killer. But that’s all it is—a belief. It is not known . Graysmith (and thus Fincher) provides a resolution to the mystery through the law of irrefutable inference. As Bob Woodward says in All the President’s Men , “If you go to sleep at night and there is no snow on the ground, and you wake up in the morning and there is snow on the ground, then you can be pretty sure that it snowed overnight.”

What remains unambiguous about Zodiac is the need for finality among the characters, how some can walk away without a need for closure, while others are haunted by a mystery that can never be solved. This obsession leads to a sense of nihilism toward all else, another common trait of Fincher’s characters from Det. David Mills to Tyler Durden, from Mark Zuckerberg to Nick and Amy Elliott-Dunne. Fincher exercises that same nihilism in his obsessive treatment of the film’s mystery, in that characters’ lives are less important than the case. Of course, the same is true for the characters in the film—Graysmith’s wife leaves him, Toschi’s wife grows tired of how the case has consumed him, and Avery loses himself to substance abuse while clinging onto the celebrity the case brings him. Emotional sacrifices in the pursuit of some ideal leave a scar on these characters, and by association, and through Fincher’s expert direction, they also leave a scar on the viewer. More than a visually pristine formal presentation, more than his visibly or thematically dark material, Fincher’s films are about characters who suppress their deeply felt emotions. Alien 3 (1993) had Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley fighting a hopeless battle, while suppressing her feelings of loss over her surrogate daughter; Morgan Freeman in Se7en laments the harsh city and how it tears a person down, which he’s experienced first-hand; in The Game , Michael Douglas’ introverted millionaire is forced to acknowledge traumas he’s long since buried. The comparisons could go on endlessly, but only Zodiac ‘s scar aches long afterward the way few other Fincher titles do.

Bibliography:

Browning, Mark. David Fincher: Films that Scar . New York: Praeger, 2010.

David Fincher: Interviews . Conversations with Filmmakers Series. Laurence F. Knapp (Editor). University Press of Mississippi, 2014.

Maillard, Florence. David Fincher: Masters of Cinema . Phaidon Press, 2015.

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Was Her Family Member the Zodiac Killer? ‘The Truth About Jim’ Follows One Woman’s Quest for Answers

By Chris Vognar

Chris Vognar

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Piles of conjecture sit atop the core of this four-part tale, which actually works quite well as an extended family reckoning with the damage wrought by one seductive, destructive individual. Mordecai, a former college football player who washed up as a high school agriculture teacher, allegedly preyed on teenage girls, including those whose mothers he married. He was a brutalizing, demeaning control freak. He was exceptionally bad news, a poison to all who lived in his orbit, and as Barter contacts older family members, including her own grandmother (married to Jim) and mother (who got away as quickly as possible), you can feel some of the catharsis setting in — the pained, communal relief of acknowledgement, and finally speaking about the unspeakable.

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Director Skye Borgman, who made the Netflix true crime mystery Girl in the Picture last year, essentially makes Barter the narrator of The Truth About Jim , and never suggests she is anything but reliable. This is certainly honorable. But the series never really delves into a subtext that lingers around the edges: obsession, and what it can do to the obsessed. Barter is cast as the noble truth-seeker, which is fair enough. But a more complicated and potentially richer portrait could have gotten inside her head and explored what it feels like to be someone who turns a wall into a crime corkboard and tracks down a Zodiac Killer expert in San Francisco. Dark obsession and serial killers , even suspected serial killers, go very well together (see David Fincher’s 2007 masterpiece Zodiac ). The combination is rife with thematic possibility as obsession takes its toll. But here, Barter is never portrayed as anything but a strong, determined seeker — again, quite complimentary to the subject, but ultimately a little one-dimensional.

The Truth About Jim walks alongside Barter quite competently, but it never makes that turn into creative subjectivity. We’re left on the outside, craning our necks, trying to get closer.

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Common sense media reviewers.

Notorious case inspires dark, sinuous thriller.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Serial killer is cruel and plainly deranged; cops

Extremely bloody crime scenes; violence includes s

Suggestion of sexual desire as first victims &quot

Repeated profanity, especially "f--k," a

Some references by name (Folgers, the movie Bullit

Drinking to drunkenness in bars (Paul and Robert f

Positive Messages

Serial killer is cruel and plainly deranged; cops and reporters argue amongst themselves and become obsessed with the case to the point of ruining their home lives. Paul gives his editor the finger.

Violence & Scariness

Extremely bloody crime scenes; violence includes shooting, stabbing (especially brutal), fighting; much discussion of means of murder, ammunition, and gun types; letters from killer describe plans to kill children on school buses (a boy hears this on TV and looks worried); mention of gas chamber; woman in prison appears with dark bruises on her arm; scary scene in basement when Robert thinks he's met the killer by accident (jump shot, dark shadows, tense music); discussion of a suspect's deviant history ("touching kids").

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Suggestion of sexual desire as first victims "park" (they're shot before they even kiss); Paul reports that the killer is a "latent homosexual."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Repeated profanity, especially "f--k," as well as "s--t," "hell," "goddamn it," and other colorful language ("Sweet mother of Christ," "Jesus on crutches," "Tell him to screw," "crap," "getting your rocks off with a girl") and name-calling ("shorty" and "retard").

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Some references by name (Folgers, the movie Bullitt ), plus background imagery (Coca-Cola and Campbell's soup in vending machines, Slinky on TV); Dirty Harry on movie screen.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Drinking to drunkenness in bars (Paul and Robert favor blue drinks called "Aqua Velvas"); more drinking at Belli's Christmas party (he offers a "toddy"); frequent cigarette smoking; Paul looks high/wasted at work -- he snorts cocaine and keeps a full bar and other drugs in his home.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this three-hour movie about the investigation into a string of real-life serial murders during the early 1970s is too violent and disturbing for most teens (and probably even some adults). While some violence takes place off screen, what does appear is brutal and bloody: The Zodiac shoots a couple in their car, stabs another couple in the back (the victims' pained, horrified faces are shown both times), and shoots a cabbie. Police officers and reporters discuss the deaths in some detail. Characters drink heavily and smoke frequently (one also uses hard drugs). References are made to the killer's "latent homosexuality" and a suspect's pedophilia. Language includes repeated uses of "f--k." To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Parents say (20)
Kids say (30)

Based on 20 parent reviews

What's the Story?

An intelligent, sinuous mystery, ZODIAC is less interested in sensational violence than in the ways that the media affects such violence. Based on the notorious, still-unsolved early-1970s Zodiac murders in the San Francisco area, the movie focuses first on efforts to figure out the murderer's motives and then on the ways that the Zodiac "imagined" himself into public consciousness by writing letters to the San Francisco Chronicle and leaving clues to taunt the police. The film begins with a murder -- the first one for which the killer took public credit. After the shooting, Zodiac calls the police and sends a letter to the Chronicle , demonstrating -- in his mind, anyway -- that he's smarter than all of them. As he uses the media to "make himself up," the movie considers the effects of the case on those who pursue him, including Inspector David Toschi ( Mark Ruffalo ) and his partner, Inspector William Armstrong (Anthony Edwards); as well as earnest cartoonist Robert Graysmith ( Jake Gyllenhaal ) and brilliantly self-destructive crime reporter Paul Avery ( Robert Downey Jr. ). They run into problems at every turn, from law enforcement officials in different jurisdictions who don't want to work together to handwriting experts, fingerprinters, and even celebrity lawyer Melvin Belli ( Brian Cox ). With egos getting in the way, only rudimentary technologies to work with, and legal impediments, no one cracks the case, and everyone loses themselves to it.

Is It Any Good?

David Fincher 's excellent movie includes several violent murder scenes (a stabbing is especially grisly). But it's more interested in the consequences of the brutality: crime scenes, investigative procedures, fear in the community. In a mess of intersecting obsessions and deceptions, Zodiac finds remarkable coherence, tracing the similar needs, means, and fictions that structure truth.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the media's relationship with serial killers. How do the killers use the media to gain attention? How do the media use the killers to gain ratings? How do viewers and readers respond to such coverage? Think about how movies portray killers and their pursuers: Unlike The Silence of the Lambs , this movie focuses on the investigation, with very little information about the killer. How does that affect the film's narrative and displays of violence? Is violence more effective when it's shown, or when it's implied? Why?

Movie Details

In theaters : March 1, 2007
On DVD or streaming : July 24, 2007
Cast : Chloe Sevigny , Jake Gyllenhaal , Mark Ruffalo
Director : David Fincher
Inclusion Information : Female actors
Studio : Warner Bros.
Genre : Thriller
Run time : 165 minutes
MPAA rating : R
MPAA explanation : some strong killings, language, drug material and brief sexual images.
Last updated : April 14, 2024

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Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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The Zodiac Killer Reviews

What's crazier than the film itself is that all this blood-soaked cinma vrit was produced with a purpose.

Full Review | Sep 1, 2017

True crime and cinema go together like highways and spree killers. But no film has a more bizarre relationship with real-life murder than 1971's The Zodiac Killer, the first film to be restored by the American Genre Film Archive.

Full Review | Oct 4, 2016

Atrocious dialogue.

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Apr 9, 2015

Film Review: The Killer

David Fincher returns with another meticulously crafted thriller...

THE KILLER Actor Michael Fassbender Credits Netflix (1)

Director : David Fincher Starrring : Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton, Charles Parnell Running time : 118 minutes

A sharply cold and distant protagonist, beautiful digital photography of wet floors and streetlights, a tightly packed story focusing on tension over narrative – David Fincher is unarguably back on form. Whilst The Killer is based off a graphic novel, it isn’t far off Fincher’s work last decade in adapting airport novels ( Gone Girl or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) into meticulously crafted genre films that aren’t afraid of injecting a heavy dose of melancholia into them. At the core of the film is the titular killer – played by a perpetually vacant Michael Fassbender – whose work is defined by a strict doctrine, a set of codes that prevents him from ever slipping up. Until of course, he does. A botched hit early on the film sends the killer on a spiral that ultimately leads him into a flurry of revenge; although he continues to maintain one thing: never breaking his rigidly defined rules.

We start and end the film knowing very little about the central character, who remains entirely anonymous. All the information we learn is driven by internal monologues spoken by him as he wanders through the films various locales: whether he is musing about the infinite boredom he faces, making humorous comments about the Military Industrial Complex or simply debating whether to buy a McDonalds for lunch (one of the many product placements in the film, depicted with a subtle disdain). Fassbender delivers these lines with an incredibly impassive yet humorous nature. His overall character clearly influenced, both stylistically and characteristically, by Alain Delon in Le Samourai; but also very similar to Tom Cruises’ deeply existential hitman in Collateral , who shares a very close world view to Fassbender’s nameless killer.

The opening sequence is where most of this philosophical monologing comes into play, it is also where we first hear a sound that will persist throughout the entire film: the gloomy sound of The Smiths ; a band that the killer clearly obsesses over, as it seems to be all he listens too. Morrissey’s haunting voice and Marr’s jangly riffs cut in and out of the film as the killer follows and watches potential victims. A gag that feels like it should eventually get tiring, but remains persistently funny whenever a different Smiths song chimes in. This opening sequence is the most overtly Hitchcockian the film gets, with Fassbender’s killer spying on a myriad of people through windows and balconies via a sniper scope – an obvious tribute to James Stewart in Rear Window ; Fincher captures the vacant expression on his face through reflections and windows which adds to the voyeuristic feeling of this early section.

The film is defined by its singular solitary character, which gives it a feeling of tangible desolation

Like most globetrotting assassin films travelling is absolutely crucial to the films plot, with the locations ranging from Paris, the Dominican Republic and eventually New York: each chapter having its own self-contained location, as if it were a level out of the Hitman video game. More important to these places is the act of travelling itself. Large portions of the film are made up of commuting, whether it be drifting along a night-stricken highway (which has rarely looked this gorgeous), nervously passing through the security of an airport or evading the police on a scooter around the urban jungle of Paris. Fincher captures the pensive nature of how lonely the character’s life is, existing almost entirely in these non-places (spaces of transience where humans remain anonymous) that only heighten his alienation with the society that surrounds him. The film is defined by its singular solitary character, which gives it a feeling of tangible desolation.

In a recent Guardian interview Fincher says that Zodiac (his 2006 film about the investigations surrounding the infamous zodiac killer) was a film that prioritised people over plot. The Killer is similar in many ways: the film certainly has a plot, but it is so threadbare and rudimentary that it becomes background to the film’s heavy atmosphere that Fincher develops across the two-hour runtime. Fincher and cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt (their third film working together) use digital technology, something that Fincher has dedicated his entire post 2000s career to using, to bend light and shadow to craft a tenebrous ambience that permeates throughout the entire film. Alongside this is the highly textured soundscape which features a combination of fantastic sound design – with every minute sound being captured – and the fantastic ambient score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (their fifth consecutive Fincher soundtrack) which blends perfectly with the film’s natural sounds.

Despite being a fairly loose film, with a hefty dose of dry wit, Fincher is able to crank the tension up when a sequence demands it. One example of this is a brilliant fight scene that adds a level of brutality to the film previously unseen: the sounds of grunting and crunching bones bursting through the stressful images. Despite this however, there are still elements of slapstick woven into even the films tensest scenes which feels naturally integrated into the film’s action. Most of the film’s tensity comes from the fact you are never sure where Fassbender’s character is going to go; his frequently unemotional face makes it hard to predict his future actions. Most of the film’s most shocking scenes occurring within the span of a few seconds, out of the blue, with a methodical coldness reminiscent of the murder sequences in Zodiac .

Whilst some people might find The Killer a bit lightweight compared to the unescapable nihilism of the director’s previous thriller works – thankfully it isn’t as dour as Se7en or as misanthropic as Fight Club – but it is a fun, highly enjoyable work that knows exactly when to shift tones and become something much more sinister. Whilst The Killer isn’t Fincher’s very best, it is a thoroughly exciting piece of genre cinema and hopefully represents a shift back to the style of thrillers that Fincher is so great at crafting.

The Killer is now screening at Broadway Cinema.

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People like to speak about a golden era of movies—the precise dimensions of which often shift based on the generation of the speaker—when Hollywood made products that were sexier, smarter, and just generally better. Richard Linklater ’s “Hit Man” is for them.

Like its protagonist’s ability to basically change identities depending on the situation, it’s a film that knows what its clients need, shifting from comedy to romance to thriller to a philosophical study of the human capacity to change. It’s one of the smartest films in years, a movie that’s reminiscent of everything from classic noir to the smooth delivery of Steven Soderbergh ’s “ Out of Sight ” in its willingness to be damn sexy and morally complex at the same time. Don’t miss this one.

Very loosely based on a true story, “Hit Man” stars Glen Powell (who also co-wrote this stellar script with Linklater) as Gary Johnson, a New Orleans-based professor who has been assisting the police department with menial tasks like planting bugs and connecting wires in the surveillance van. When a slimy undercover agent named Jasper ( Austin Amelio ) gets suspended for 120 days for some violence involving teenagers—one gets the impression it probably should have been much longer—Gary is forced to step in and improvise on the job. It turns out he’s really good at it, convincing a sleazebag named Craig ( Mike Markoff ) that he’s a professional killer by detailing his technique when it comes to body disposal. Gary’s colleagues (memorably played by Retta and Sanjay Rao ) suggest that the mild-mannered cat lover and bird watcher should be their new undercover hit man.

Gary takes his new assignment very seriously, researching the people asking for a murder for hire in a way that makes them more likely to hand over the money. His ability to shape himself into the right man for the job could even be read as a bit of a meta-commentary on acting itself—he’s playing dress up, but he’s also doing the same kind of research and character work that Powell himself has done for dozens of roles. And, of course, Gary’s personality gamesmanship reflects his teachings about philosophy, not only in how his background allows him to read people but in how the different characters change Gary himself.

And that’s when Ron enters the picture. When Madison ( Adria Arjona ) tries to hire a hit man, she meets Ron (aka Gary) in a diner called the Please U Café—like so many choices in Powell & Linklater’s blindingly smart script, even that name doesn’t seem accidental. Ron listens to her story about her abusive husband, Ray, and he makes the sudden decision to save Madison from herself. Take the money you were going to spend on murder and start a new life. It’s only one of many beats in the back half of “Hit Man” that’s a bit morally ambiguous. What if Madison just goes and hires someone else, and someone ends up dead? So much of what follows, as Ron/Gary and Madison begin a romantic relationship, will have viewers wondering what they’re supposed to be rooting for to happen next.

That’s part of the unpredictable brilliance of “Hit Man.” So many movies telegraph their plot twists and underline their moral messages. “Hit Man” does none of that. If you asked a dozen people to guess where it was going at the halfway mark, or even where they want it to go, you’d get 12 different answers. Linklater & Powell’s script constantly stays one step ahead of the viewers, making us eager to see what happens next and often surprised by what unfolds. I’m not sure it all adds up without loose plot threads, but it’s so wildly entertaining to take this twisting journey that it doesn’t matter.

It’s also sexy as Hell. The first scene between Powell and Arjona feels like a bolt of lightning, given how rarely we see actual screen chemistry in modern movies. Hey, look, it’s two people being movie stars . Their instant chemistry becomes the foundation for the back half of the movie as what was kind of a goofy comedy shifts more into thriller and even noir, genres that allow for a bit of moral ambiguity. Without spoiling, “Hit Man” goes to some pretty daring places narratively where other filmmakers and studios would have headed for more predictable moral waters. “Hit Man” recalls noirs and thrillers in which we rooted for the leads to get away with relatively heinous acts in the name of entertainment and didn't think about the repercussions.

That last thought might make “Hit Man” seem like little more than a lark. It’s not. This film will be underrated in its complexity, a study of how easy it is to become what we pretend we are. It’s about how we like to define people by their jobs, or even if they’re a cat or dog person, but one of the great things about humanity is our ability to surprise even ourselves. (Powell is SO good at selling the improvised choices that Gary makes in a way that's essential to the film's success.) It’s a deceptively well-made flick that appears to be Linklater in little more than his “let’s have fun” mode. But it can’t keep one of the smartest filmmakers of his generation from elevating everything that this movie is trying to do with remarkable depth.

The truth about “Hit Man” is that the golden era people long for would have made this movie a smash, the kind of hit that turns Glen Powell and Adria Arjona into household names. That's what I miss in that I sometimes wonder if some of my favorite movies of the past would even be noticed by the content algorithm in 2024. This one is getting a brief theatrical run before landing on Netflix, where good films too often get buried. Don’t let that happen here. Or they really won’t make this kind of movie anymore.

In limited theatrical release tomorrow, May 24 th . On Netflix on June 7 th .

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Film credits.

Hit Man (2024)

115 minutes

Glen Powell as Gary Johnson

Adria Arjona as Madison 'Maddy' Masters

Austin Amelio as Jasper

Retta as Claudette

Sanjay Rao as Phil

Molly Bernard as Alicia

Richard Linklater
Glen Powell
Skip Hollandsworth

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IMAGES

How 'Zodiac' nails the story of the Zodiac Killer
The Zodiac Killer Blu-ray Review (AGFA)
Who was the Zodiac Killer? Meet Gary Francis Poste
The Zodiac Killer: Best shows, movies about the now-solved case
Zodiac
The Zodiac Killer (1971)

VIDEO

They solve who is the Zodiac Killer?
The Zodiac Killer Case
Who was the Zodiac Killer? #shorts #serialkillerdocumentary #jokes #comedy #funny #lol
Zodiac Killer Identity Finally Revealed?
Zodiac Killer The Chilling Legacy That Still Haunts Us
The Zodiac Killer (1971) HD

COMMENTS

The Zodiac Killer: Best shows, movies about the now-solved case
8. A still from the 1971 film "The Zodiac Killer," directed by Tom Hanson. Courtesy Everett Collection. This 1971 film was released while the Zodiac Killer was still on the loose and was ...
I Watched Zodiac For The First Time, And It's The Scariest Movie I've
Let's start with one of the first things we see in Zodiac, violence. Immediately, we witness two young people brutally murdered by the serial killer, and Fincher does not hold back in showing ...
Zodiac Ending Explained: Is Arthur Leigh Allen The Zodiac Killer?
The mystery of the Zodiac Killer - a serial murderer who terrorized the San Francisco Bay Area for years during the 1960s and 1970s - is a case that has inspired heaps of speculation, but no ...
Zodiac
Directed by David Fincher. Crime, Drama, History, Mystery, Thriller. R. 2h 37m. By Manohla Dargis. March 2, 2007. David Fincher's magnificently obsessive new film, "Zodiac," tracks the story ...
The Zodiac Killer: Unraveling the Mystery on Screen
The real-life Zodiac Killer, a shadow that haunted Northern California in the late 1960s and early '70s, is a figure shrouded in mystery. The movie draws inspiration from the killer's enigmatic ciphers and taunting letters, which you can explore in detail at the FBI's Zodiac Killer case file. Plot Overview: A Tangled Web of Clues
The Terrifying True Story Behind David Fincher's 'Zodiac'
David Fincher's film Zodiac is a retelling of the story of the infamous Zodiac killer, who remains unidentified to this day. The Zodiac killer murdered multiple people in the late 1960s and early ...
Zodiac movie review & film summary (2007)
Zodiac. Roger Ebert August 23, 2007. Tweet. A cartoonist (Jake Gyllenhaal, left) teams up with an ace reporter (Robert Downey Jr.) to track down an elusive serial killer in Zodiac. Director David Fincher, an elegant stylist, finds the right pace and style for a story about persistence in the face of evil. Now streaming on: Powered by JustWatch.
Zodiac
90% Tomatometer 265 Reviews 77% Audience Score 250,000+ Ratings In the late 1960s and 1970s, fear grips the city of San Francisco as a serial killer called Zodiac stalks its residents ...
Obsession Drives Fincher's Look at 'Zodiac' Killer : NPR
Obsession is the movie's theme: a driving force for the killer, the guys trying to catch him, and of course, for the filmmaker, who is nothing if not a stickler for detail. In his earlier pictures ...
So who was the Zodiac killer?
The Zodiac killed for the last known time on 11 October 1969. He had picked up a cab driven by Paul Stine. The Zodiac gave an address in the Presidio Heights area of San Francisco and, as the car ...
Zodiac (2007) Movie Ending and Themes Explained: Is Arthur Leigh Allen
Recounting the tale of an elusive serial killer, an obsessed cartoonist, and an intelligent police investigator, David Fincher's exceptional crime thriller, "Zodiac (2007)," became one of the best movies of the century. Fincher outdid himself as he picked up the script centered around the ominous killings of locals in the San Francisco Bay Area during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Zodiac
A movie review by James Berardinelli. Zodiac is a police procedural - a sort of souped-up, ultra-long episode of Law & Order. Based on the 1986 "true crime" book by Robert Graysmith, the movie looks back on one of the nation's most sinister unsolved crimes: the Northern California serial killings by the so-called "Zodiac killer."
The Zodiac Killer (1971)
Barely Holds One's Attention. wilburscott 14 December 2004. Mean-spirited and brutal film is mainly a fictionalization of the events that happened when the Zodiac killer raised hell in California back in the late 60's-early 70's. Our chipper killer (who resembles a young Merle Haggard) goes around raising hell.
Zodiac
Based on the actual case files of one of the most intriguing unsolved crimes in the nation's history, Zodiac is a thriller from David Fincher, director of "Seven" and "Fight Club." As a serial killer terrifies the San Francisco Bay Area and taunts police with his ciphers and letters, investigators in four jurisdictions search for the murderer. The case will become an obsession for four men as ...
Zodiac True Story Explained: Was Arthur Leigh Allen Really The Killer?
Throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, the residents of Northern California found themselves plagued by the threat of the mysterious Zodiac Killer. The unknown murderer killed five people, injured two others, and claimed to have 37 victims to his name. What made the story all the more terrifying was the fact that the killer sent taunting ...
Zodiac (2007)
From the late 1960s to early 1970s and beyond, Zodiac Killer hysteria rattled the San Francisco Bay Area of northern California. With several confirmed attacks and numerous others attributed to his name, the self-titled Zodiac claimed to have 37 victims; however, just three men and two women died by either gunshot or stabbing, while another two were seriously injured but escaped.
'The Truth About Jim' Docuseries Review
Not just that. He could have been — wait for it — the Zodiac Killer, the notorious lunatic who terrorized Northern California, Mordecai's stomping grounds, in the late Sixties. Maybe ...
Zodiac (film)
Zodiac is a 2007 American neo-noir true crime thriller film directed by David Fincher from a screenplay by James Vanderbilt based on the nonfiction books by Robert Graysmith: Zodiac (1986) and Zodiac Unmasked (2002). The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr., with Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox, Elias Koteas, Donal Logue, John Carroll Lynch, Chloë Sevigny, Philip Baker ...
Zodiac Movie Review
Our review: Parents say ( 20 ): Kids say ( 30 ): David Fincher 's excellent movie includes several violent murder scenes (a stabbing is especially grisly). But it's more interested in the consequences of the brutality: crime scenes, investigative procedures, fear in the community. In a mess of intersecting obsessions and deceptions, Zodiac ...
Zodiac (2007)
evanston_dad 26 March 2007. "Zodiac" may frustrate viewers who come to David Fincher's latest film expecting a traditional serial killer thriller. The film begins with a couple of hair-raising and rather brutal recreations of murders carried out by the mysterious killer who terrorized the San Francisco Bay area in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The Zodiac Killer
The Zodiac Killer Reviews. What's crazier than the film itself is that all this blood-soaked cinma vrit was produced with a purpose. Full Review | Sep 1, 2017. True crime and cinema go together ...
Film Review: The Killer
In a recent Guardian interview Fincher says that Zodiac (his 2006 film about the investigations surrounding the infamous zodiac killer) was a film that prioritised people over plot. The Killer is similar in many ways: the film certainly has a plot, but it is so threadbare and rudimentary that it becomes background to the film's heavy ...
'Hit Man' review: Richard Linklater delivers the year's most killer
It's the perfect name for the character Glen Powell plays in Hit Man, the film he wrote alongside director Richard Linklater, which introduces us to Johnson as a smiling, simple, slightly dorky ...
Hit Man movie review & film summary (2024)
Very loosely based on a true story, "Hit Man" stars Glen Powell (who also co-wrote this stellar script with Linklater) as Gary Johnson, a New Orleans-based professor who has been assisting the police department with menial tasks like planting bugs and connecting wires in the surveillance van. When a slimy undercover agent named Jasper (Austin Amelio) gets suspended for 120 days for some ...