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| Scene from Mindhunter |
Following the release of Se7en, director David Fincher constantly received one complaint: why did he show them "What's in the box?" It's an easy complaint, largely because the film was chocked full of disturbing imagery and a Brad Pitt performance that reflected the dread one would face with seeing such a gruesome detail. However, those who have seen the movie with a watchful eye will recognize one thing: he never showed what was in the box. The imagination of audiences was too strong to not let the uncertainty wash over them. In the case of his latest Netflix series Mindhunter, Fincher has produced a show that returns to that disturbing kind of mentality. It isn't what's seen that will leave audiences uncomfortable, but what lies beyond the frame, in the details of the serial killers interviewed throughout the 10 episodes. It's an effective crime procedural that removes the grit and gets to the mind of its subjects. The results make for one of the most enjoyable, bizarre new series of 2017.
The story follows Holden (Jonathan Groff), who gets assigned by the FBI to learn one important and groundbreaking piece of criminal science in the 70's: WHY do killers... kill? The first episode establishes the world that Holden exists tangentially to, in which police fight deranged criminals and try to learn negotiation tactics from Dog Day Afternoon. But Holden isn't made to just knock on doors and shoot bad guys. He wants to know why they did what they did, and it's with assistance of Bill Tench (Holt McCallany), who rides with him from city to city and slowly learns that there's more to asking a criminal personal questions than just getting straight to the nitty gritty. They have to build a friendship, and from there the road is bound to get extremely dissatisfying to people with a regular disposition.
Those familiar with Fincher's other procedural movies, notably Zodiac, will be familiar with the tone that follows. Each episode resonates a cold and isolating tone, focusing on the relationship of Holden and Bill as they fall deeper and deeper into their research. It doesn't become any easier as the two discover their own limits, which goes beyond the gruesome idea of murder. Early episodes focus around the show's standout killer Ed Kemper (Cameron Britton), whose casual dismissal of facts unveil that he isn't a crazy man so much as he is a stubborn person with a certain drive. It doesn't humanize him entirely, but begins to create the unnerving reality that these are all people, who in some capacity have enough similar interests to make even the most innocent person feel like they're heading down a bad road. The details of the murders and crimes is bad enough, but to make them plausible creates a vision that is difficult to overcome.
Even if Holden is upholding a responsible demeanor the entire time, there is a sense that he's too invested in his work. Some language he uses to connect with his subjects becomes too offensive for hardened FBI agents. Even his choice to get personal and address private lives - no matter how fictitious - begins to drive his coworkers insane. The cycle becomes toxic and shocking, revealing the tricky spiral that can happen when someone begins to understand evil. Do they simply become evil, or is there a way to control it? By the end, Holden is questioning his own sanity, and it creates a sense that a perverse form of reverse psychology has been working on him. The serial killers have gotten to him, and it's not the most pleasant experience to live with.
The show manages to be a mystery show not of the crime, but of the mind. Speaking as there's countless shows dedicated to forensics, it still feels novel that there was a way to add a new twist to an old genre. What's more impressive is that Mindhunter has a way of getting under everyone's skin. Beyond the characters, the show manages to reflect how direction and cinematography can play tricks on the mind. There's not much violence actually seen on the show, yet it's richer in memorable imagery than more visual shows like Game of Thrones. It could be that these characters feel real, as if they could be living three doors down from you. It's also that Holden's charismatic performance manages to convey the struggle between humanity and depravity. The show manages to hold so much underneath its cold and calculated surface. Nothing is off the table, and odds are that Fincher will get lobbied with complaints for disturbing imagery yet again that he didn't create. He's that good.
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